


Once in a Purple Moon

by F1_rabbit



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/F, F/M, M/M, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-05-31 20:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 42,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6486286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo and Dani are good witches, but they've somehow ended up having to honour the deals that other people made - by taking a first born child as payment.</p><p>[fem!drivers]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In the Blink of an Eye

On the first day of spring a little girl was born, with dark curls and green-blue eyes. Her parents looked at her with sadness, they weren't going to be the ones to raise her, and they wondered what would become of her, who would take care of her.

Neither parent knew that the other was thinking the same thing, they thought that they were the only one.

***

Jo was cleaning up her kitchen after making a particularly pungent potion, opening the windows hadn't really helped and she knew that if she put the extractor fan on the thick lilac smoke would probably cause it to burn out. Again.

The worst of it had cleared when she went to make a cup of tea, she would bottle the potion later so that she could take it down to the shop. It would probably have been wiser to make it at the shop, but the other shop owners near her had started to complain about the strange smells, and the last thing that she wanted was environmental health coming down and poking around.

She used to have others that helped her but they'd all drifted away, she was the last of her coven, although that didn't really mean much, there were some things that had been handed down over the years, but only one bit of her coven's legacy worried her. Jo just hoped that the people involved would have the sense to avoid any future complications, it was what she would do, although people weren't anywhere near as rational or logical as they liked to make out.

Cup of tea finished, she bottled up the potion, labelling it – Essence of Confidence. It was a special order, and it had been difficult to make. Most people came in asking for 'Love Potions' and she had been tempted just to give them a low grade aphrodisiac, but that seemed dishonest. She knew that there was no way to cheat things like love, much like free will, they were only able to be controlled by the individual people.

There was still smoke lingering in her kitchen as she headed to work and she left the window open just a little, not enough for a burglar to get in, although being on the third floor that was unlikely. She didn't notice the glowing orb by the kettle, emitting a faint red light as she shut the door.

*

Dani was so happy when she was told that she'd inherit her grandmother's estate, she was her only descendant who had magic in her blood and it made sense that she should carry on the tradition. She couldn't wait to move out of her parents' house and have her own space, it was going to be lovely. When she packed her things she'd felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and although she said goodbye to her parents with a little sadness in her heart, she was going to enjoy living alone.

Then she found out that the nice house her grandmother had lived in wasn't hers, it had been gifted to her by someone rich that she'd done a favour for some time ago. But the books and the charms were given to Dani, along with the keys to her grandmother's cave.

An actual cave in the side of the hills, that was damp and covered in moss. There appeared to be fungi growing on the mattress, but she had made her bed and now she was going to have to lie in it. At least she had the skills to spruce the place up without too much effort, and a little water magic had seen her using the damp that came running in to clear the toilet, although it was nothing more than a hole in the ground, and purifying the rest so that she could drink it and bathe in it without worrying what she might catch.

It had taken her a couple of weeks to get settled in, and she'd made friends with the local wildlife, who were more than happy to come visit her in return for food, the vegetables that she'd grown had to be protected by magic to keep the rabbits from eating it all and letting Dani go hungry.

Dani was just glad of the company, even if it she was struggling to keep up with the ridiculous amount of carrots that they seemed to use. She had been sorting through her grandmother's things each evening, making sure that everything was in order, and there were no spells she had cast that would need to be reversed in the future.

That was when she found out that in addition to inheriting her grandmother's cave, she would one day be the proud owner of a new-born child, as payment for services rendered by her grandmother.

A child. What the hell would she do with a child?

*

Jo got home from work, relieved to see that the smoke had cleared in the kitchen and she headed straight for the kettle. The pulsating red light made her freeze and she cursed under her breath, wondering why anyone would be so silly as to have a child when they had promised their first born to a coven of witches.

There was a reason no-one did things like this anymore, it was all too complicated. She shook her head as she put her hands on either side of the orb, focusing on the energy until she saw where it was coming from. The hospital, not a surprise.

Jo rushed to her office and opened up the filing cabinet, grabbing the light pink folder marked 'adoption papers' before heading out to her car, wondering how this would all play out. On the way to the car she called Marcia, former coven member and police officer for back up, just in case things got out of hand.

She took a deep breath as the car's engine roared into life, she was going to be a mother, and she had no idea how she was going to manage that alone.

*

"How do you know where to go?" Marcia asked, and Jo glared at her.

"I saw the room number in the orb, two six three." Jo was starting to feel the panic rising, was she really going to do this? She had to, since she knew what the consequences were if she didn't.

Having a police officer with her, in full uniform, made everything easier and Jo was glad that although the coven had dissolved, she had kept in touch with Marcia.

Once she got to the door she saw that the couple already had visitors and Jo checked her file, there was only a first name for the mother, Sophie, but that would be enough, the orb had led her here and she knew what she had to do.

Jo slunk into the room, leaving Marcia outside guarding the door, if there was any trouble she could flash her badge. Hopefully that wouldn't be needed.

She took a deep breath and waited for Sophie to speak, but once she saw the insignia on Jo's badge there was nothing but fear in her eyes.

"Please don't take her, not yet." Sophie clutched the baby to her chest, shielding it with her arms.

The visitor glared at Jo, her green eyes glowing with spots of hazel, and Jo was preparing to use a spell that would induce temporary amnesia, she had to make sure that people didn't find out magic was real, when the visitor spoke.

"This child was promised to my grandmother and I'm here to collect." She scowled at Jo and her hand was twitching as though she was preparing to cast a spell. "Don't play with things that you don't understand."

Jo saw a blinding flash of light, she blinked to try and regain her vision but it was no use. When she could see again, the mysterious woman and the baby were gone, but the parents were frozen and there was silence, true silence that made Jo feel dizzy.

She stepped out of the door to see Marcia with her hand raised, and the visitor frozen in a stasis spell, holding the baby. Marcia was grinning, she didn't really get to use her powers much in her line of work, although she was very persuasive with the criminals, with a knack for getting them to confess.

Jo took the baby out of the stranger's hands, holding the little girl tight as she waited for Marcia to move the mystery woman back into the hospital room, it was the closest they were going to get to privacy.

"Do you have anything to freeze her in place? So we can talk without her escaping?" Marcia asked, and Jo looked through her pockets. She loved her cardigan because of its generous sized pockets, which contained the most random assortment of things, and was also big enough to fit most of her books.

Jo held the baby securely with one hand as she fished out a small clear bag with a green powder in it.

"You might want to find a different way to store that," Marcia said with a laugh, and Jo nodded, she'd been in a hurry when she left the shop and she'd barely had time to think as she'd rushed to the hospital.

"Noted. Sprinkle it over her and she'll be unable to move her feet from the spot that they're currently in, but she'll be able to move all of her other muscles, including her mouth." Jo watched as Marcia followed her instructions, putting the mystery woman in a position where everyone could see her before sprinkling the dust over her. It had a faint green glow as it landed on her and Jo knew that it had worked. "Okay, unfreeze everything."

The noise of the world came back with a rush, deafening Jo, she was just glad that the baby wouldn't notice the difference, or anyone else apart from her and Marcia. Sophie looked confused and the father looked like he was spoiling for a fight, Jo was on alert, but no-one screamed.

"What's your name?" Jo asked the mystery woman, she was clearly some sort of witch, but not from around here, or Jo would know of her. She would have been a customer in the shop at some point, since Jo's shop was the only place in the area, and sometimes the country, that supplied certain things to those with magic in their in blood. And also to magicians, which was a convenient cover for the shop.

She thought about not talking but Marcia only had to nod her head to have her holding her arms up as though she was surrendering. "Dani."

"I'm Jo." She rocked the baby as she fussed, waiting until she was asleep again. "And this is Marcia."

Dani looked at Jo with determination in her eyes, Jo could see her trying to move her feet and failing. She squirmed on the spot before admitting defeat.

"I swore to my grandmother that I would take care of this child." Dani kept her voice low, she didn't want to startle the baby. It wasn't quite true, her grandmother had never mentioned this arrangement while she was alive, but by accepting her estate, she was accepting all of her grandmother's responsibilities, including this one.

"I swore to my coven that I would take care of this child." Jo stared at Dani wondering how they would be able to both keep their bargain. She had taken an oath, promised to honour these traditions, even if they weren't the way things were done anymore. This is what had split their coven up, the member who had made the deal passed shortly after, and a lot had thought that the deal was unethical, but once it had been made there was no undoing it. So the coven went their separate ways and Jo was the only one able to bear the responsibility without any questions, the rest all had jobs that would interfere with raising a child.

"If it's a problem, I could just keep the baby," Sophie said, Jo had almost forgotten that she was still there, she'd been watching Jo and Dani carefully, waiting for her chance.

Dani shook her head and Jo looked down at the little baby, she knew it sounded logical, but Sophie couldn't possibly understand what she was offering to do.

Jo glanced at Marcia and she took the baby, it would be easier to explain everything without having to worry about disturbing the baby. "It's not a case of us wanting the child, it's what will happen if we don't take her."

"If the deal is not fulfilled, the magic has ways of seeking balance in the universe, she will not be safe." Dani looked apologetic and Jo tried to look trustworthy. She could see Marcia nodding out the corner of her eye.

"Are you threatening us?" the husband said, and Jo was ready to attack when she heard the aggression in his voice.

"No, we're not in control of this any more than you are." Jo wondered what they thought would happen, to promise someone their first born was a huge price, it must have been some serious magical favours that they got in return. Sophie had cheated death, used magic to cure her illness, so this was a life for a life type situation, and her husband must have got something equally fantastical in return. From the flashy watch and expensive clothes he was clearly gifted a way to make his fortune, which seemed an awful waste of magical powers to Jo, but she wasn't the one who had made the deal, Dani's grandmother must have got a nice cut from it all.

"You don't want to see what the dark side of magic can do, it will make sure that the deal is honoured. By whatever means necessary." Dani's accent was perfect for underlining the seriousness of their situation, Jo was far too polite for harsh words, but they were needed now.

"You made these deals with my coven, with her grandmother and now we must collect the payment. Your child." Jo took the folder and sat it on the little table at the end of the hospital bed. "These are adoption papers, they are legal and binding. This means that you can't try and claim her back."

Jo took out a small pen, the sort that would fit along the side of a small diary, back when paper diaries were a thing. She began filling in the forms as everyone looked on in silence, unsure of if this was real or not. Jo hesitated, should she put Dani on the adoption papers? They both had a claim on the child, and would just one of them raising her be enough to stop the universe trying to make sure the deal was honoured? Jo wasn't sure, so she took the papers over to Dani so that she could put her name on them, and Dani sniggered when she saw Jo's full name.

_Josephina Carlene Palmer_

Jo watched as Dani wrote her name on the forms, and when she saw Dani's name in full, she knew that it was cruel of her to snigger.

_Daniela Vyacheslavovna Kvyat_

She took the papers from Dani and put them down in front of Sophie and her husband. "Sign."

"What if we report you to the police?" the husband said, but Marcia just waved from the corner of the room.

"The adoption is legal once you sign, and I'm sure Sophie understands why you can't go to the police." Marcia moved so that her handcuffs clinked. "You're going to tell them that the baby was taken from you using magic, when there's an adoption certificate in place, and the police will take one look at your frightened wife and have no doubts as to why that baby was adopted."

He moved forward and Marcia took her cuffs out, which made him back down. Jo pushed the papers towards them and waited for them to sign, she thought for a minute that the husband was going to refuse to do it, but in the end he did it, stabbing the paper as he finished to show his displeasure.

Jo was just glad that it was done and they could get out of here. Everything else could be sorted once they got home. She had no idea what to do, but she just wanted to get out of the hospital and have a cup of tea.

She unfroze Dani with a swipe of her hand, taking the baby back from Marcia as they walked out of the hospital, trying to look inconspicuous as Marcia followed them, checking that the parents didn't decide to do anything to cause a scene while they were leaving.

Once Jo was back at the car she breathed a sigh of relief, and Dani had relaxed.

"I've got to go back to work, Keva will only be able to cover me for a little while." Marcia gave Jo a kiss on the cheek before heading back to her police car.

"Are you okay to hold the baby?" Jo asked, staring at Dani, trying to work out if she could trust her or not.

"You can trust me." Dani held her arms out to take the baby and Jo went to open the car door for her. Mindreading spells required a lot of power, Dani was definitely stronger than she let on. But by doing that she had shown Jo her skills, and Jo would be able to block her from doing it again.

Jo switched off the passenger airbag before strapping Dani in, even though she'd only been a mother for a short while she felt strangely protective towards the little girl and her new co-parent.

She stopped at the supermarket to get formula and nappies, and that was when it all hit home, she was going to have to look after a baby, a tiny human, for the rest of her life.

"I wouldn't blame you if you just left," Jo said, standing in close to Dani so that no-one could hear.

"You know as well as I do what will happen if I leave, magic will keep pulling us all back together until we accept our fate. So, we might as well just do it and save ourselves the hassle."

Jo nodded, looking at the baby as she slept, trying not to think about all the things that she was going to need for the baby, or all the things that were going to change in her life because of it. The woman at the till asked lots of questions, including, "What's her name?"

But Dani didn't miss a beat, as she told her, "Maxine."

Jo smiled when she realised that it was what she was thinking, and Dani must have read it right out of her mind. The little one, Maxine, reminded her of someone that she used to go to school with who had the same name, something about the way that she pouted.

It felt all so normal, although Jo wasn't sure what normal was any more. It was going to be a steep learning curve for her and from the way Dani looked almost terrified while holding Maxine, Jo was sure that it was going to be the same for her.

She drove carefully all the way back to her place, wondering how this was all going to work.


	2. Time for Change

Jo's place still had a bit of a funny smell from the potion earlier and Dani dispersed it with a few words muttered under her breath. They fed and changed little Maxine, watching as she drifted off to sleep and Jo put her into a cardboard box that they'd lined with blankets. They were going to have to do some serious shopping tomorrow if they were going be able to give Maxine a good standard of care.

She had made up the spare bed for Dani, and it was getting so late that it was starting to be early again. "You can stay here with me, I can make arrangements for your things to be brought over."

"So that's it? I'm just going to live here with you. End of discussion?" Dani folded her arms and her lips formed a scowl.

"I run a business, I can afford to look after you and the baby." Jo realised that she'd never asked Dani what she did, where she lived, how she got here. "I'm sorry. Sit with me?"

Dani sat next to Jo on the sofa, still keeping her distance, but she'd unfolded her arms and she no longer looked like she wanted to hurt Jo.

"Tell me about yourself." Jo held out a plate of biscuits, it was one of the few bits of food that she had in the house, she was definitely going to have to go shopping tomorrow.

Dani nibbled at the biscuit before telling Jo everything, how her grandmother had passed all of this down to her, that she didn't want to follow in her footsteps but she had no choice, she'd wanted to be a librarian, although she did have a lot of books, mostly to do with witchcraft.

In the end she'd decided just to retreat from the world, live in the woods surrounded by nature, make sure that her powers were never used for evil ends. She told Jo about her grandmother's fancy house, and expensive cars. How she thought she was going to inherit it all, but it was just a loan, no doubt from one of the people that she made rich, her grandmother's cut of the riches that she had created for them.

Dani was glad in a way, if she'd taken over her grandmother's life she would have had to work for those people, cast spells to make the rich richer and worse. So, she'd gone to live in the only thing she'd inherited that wasn't profits from her grandmother's dark magic – a cave.

"You live in a cave?" Jo cursed herself for sounding so judgemental, but the idea of living in a cave in the middle of nowhere trying to raise a baby was just awful.

"It's a nice cave," Dani said, and Jo tilted her head in confusion.

"We can't raise a baby in a cave, she needs to go to school, and get her vaccinations and be around people." Jo didn't want to scare Dani, just in case she did something drastic like disappear with the child. Jo definitely didn't want to spend time chasing them all over the world, or see what the universe would do to try and force them back together. "And we're going to need people around to help us raise her. Even with the two of us, we're going to need a break sometimes."

Dani nodded, she looked so young right now. Jo had so many questions, but she wasn't sure where to start, she didn't want Dani to feel like she was being interrogated. The sun was starting to come up and Jo knew that if she didn't get a couple of hours sleep before going to the shop she'd regret it.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" Jo asked, and she felt a stab of pain as Dani shook her head, clasping at her necklace. She looked so sad, and Jo decided to take Maxine in with her, casting a spell on the door so that Dani couldn't do anything while she slept. Jo wanted to trust her, but she just needed to get to know her first.

*

She woke to the sound of Maxine crying, and Dani banging on the bedroom door trying to get it open. Jo muttered a few words and Dani came flying into the room, stumbling onto the ground as she looked around in surprise.

"You don't trust me?" Dani brushed herself off before standing with her arms folded, she was holding a bottle of formula and she sat down on the bed next to Maxine's makeshift crib, picking her up and rocking her until she was calm. She was singing an old Russian lullaby and Maxine ate greedily.

"I'm sorry," Jo said, "It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't want anything to happen to Maxine. This is all so new and scary."

"I'm scared too. I only found out about this a day ago, and now here I am with a baby."

Jo reached out to rest her hand over Dani's hand, making Dani look at her. "We'll make this work. I promise, but I have to go open up the shop now." Jo was wondering if Dani would be okay with the baby all day, should she see if Marcia could come round and help.

"We'll be fine." Dani smiled, she knew that it annoyed Jo when she read her thoughts, but it was useful for now, it was going to take a while for them to trust each other.

*

Jo had spent most of the morning worrying, she'd cast three different spells so that she could check on Maxine and Dani. All they did was sleep, at one point Dani started reading a book, but then fell asleep on the sofa. By lunchtime she had relaxed enough that she didn't feel the need to constantly watch them through the orb, so Jo went to make a few potions, sent a few texts to tell the customers that their orders were ready to collect and made of cup of tea.

When she sat down to relax with her cup of tea, she noticed that Dani and Maxine were gone, no sign of them anywhere in the flat and Jo ended up calling Marcia to ask what she should do.

"They've probably gone out for a walk."

Jo wasn't reassured by Marcia's logic at all, so she went looking through all of her books trying to find something that would help her trace Dani, in the end she found something that should allow her to see Dani, but it was unclear on how it would manifest itself.

She muttered the words and closed her eyes. Jo felt cold, and the sound of people echoed around her. She opened her eyes to see that she was standing in a supermarket, but no-one seemed to notice her, no-one except Dani.

"Astral projection, nice," Dani kept her voice low, her eyes never leaving Maxine so that people would just think she was talking to the baby. "You could have just called you know."

Jo looked at her phone and saw that she'd got a text message that simply said – _My number, in case you need anything. Dani_

She couldn't believe that she hadn't checked her phone, she'd spent all morning using surreptitious ways to check on Dani, when she could have just called. Sometimes her life was so steeped in magic that she forgot technology had its uses. "I'm sorry, but I saw that you'd left the flat and I was worried about you."

"Worried about Maxine, or me?" Dani raised her eyebrow as she picked out a packet of frozen peas, adding it to the laden shopping trolley.

"Both of you."

Dani was lost for words, which made a change, and Jo realised they hadn't talked about any of the practical arrangements, like how Dani would pay for the shopping given that she didn't have a British bank account. She was starting to wonder if Dani had any intention of paying for it at all, when Dani glared at her.

"You left your purse at home, on the kitchen counter, I assumed you left it for me."

Jo patted her cardigan pockets and realised that she hadn't picked it up this morning, it was left there from when she got back from the hospital, there were bigger things on her mind. She thought about the pin number for the card and Dani smiled, although it wouldn't have taken a lot for her to get round that.

Dani was piling more food in and Jo felt guilty that Dani had to do all this, but it wasn't like either of them had got much advance warning about this. "What time do you finish? We'll come down and meet you, walk you home."

After all the worrying, that sounded nice. "The shop closes at six."

The rest of the day flew by, having something to look forward to was a nice change. It was going to take a lot of adjusting to get used to her new life, but she would make it work, no matter what it took.

*

Just as Jo was preparing to close up the bell rang to say that there was a customer and she looked up to see Dani standing there, Maxine sleeping in a little baby carrier that Dani was wearing on her chest. Jo felt herself smile with pride at her beautiful family, and Dani breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jo.

"I'm glad to see you again," Dani said, and Jo felt happy that she was missed, but that feeling was short lived. "I was starting to think that your astral projection was going to follow me forever."

"Oh." Jo grabbed the keys for the shop, patting her pockets to check that she had everything before hurrying over to Maxine and Dani. She gave Maxine a little kiss on the head, softly so as not to wake her and she saw Dani looking down at her with something close to a smile. It was the first time that Jo had seen her look more relaxed, less guarded although given the craziness, that wasn't a surprise.

"You sure do drink a lot of tea," Dani said, as Jo locked up the shop, pulling down the shutter.

"Only when I'm stressed or worried. Which is pretty much all of the time at the moment." Jo saw Dani frown, she hadn't meant to upset her. "It's pretty much my normal state. Even without a new baby."

Jo had made a little something at work so that Dani couldn't listen in to her thoughts any more, it was for the best, it was tiring having to constantly watch what she thought. And right now, she was thinking how much she wanted to put her arm around Dani's shoulders, hold her and Maxine close.

The walk was nice, the warm spring air made it feel like it would be summer soon, although knowing the British weather, it was no guarantee that it was going to be warm in the near future. Dani made dinner as Jo fed Maxine, it was all nicely domestic and Dani told Jo all about their day, most of which had involved going out to buy all the things that Maxine would need.

After dinner they managed to lull Maxine to sleep without too much fuss, and it was agreed that Maxine should sleep in Dani's room, so that she could deal with her through the night. Which made sense, if Jo was going to be working in the shop six days a week, she needed her sleep, although the shop wasn't that busy that she couldn't have Maxine at the shop with her sometimes, but it wasn't really the place for a baby.

Jo was sat on the sofa, flicking through the tv channels but there was nothing she wanted to watch, she was just in that mood. Restless. Dani came to sit next to her, and she was wearing her jacket and holding her bag.

"I'm going to pop home to get a few things. I won't be long." Dani disappeared into thin air, Jo knew that she must have had some way of teleporting since she managed to get to the local hospital quicker than she did.

The flat seemed eerily quiet without Dani, Jo had already got used to having company. Not that she didn't have friends who popped round from time to time, but having Dani and the little one around permanently was a big change, and Jo could already feel herself getting used to it.

She was starting to drift off to sleep on the sofa, the tv buzzing in the background when she heard a thud in the kitchen. Jo dashed through to see Dani standing there with crates, actual wooden crates, filled with old books, and a large canvas bag filled with clothes. Dani didn't have a lot of possessions, and most of the books looked like they had been handed down through the generations.

Then Jo saw something move behind the kitchen counter, and when she peered over the worktop, she saw three rabbits standing on their hind legs, trying to work out where they were no doubt.

"Did you mean to bring the rabbits?" Jo asked, although from what she'd seen of Dani's powers, she didn't do anything by accident.

"They wanted to come," Dani said, as though it made perfect sense.

"Do they have names?" Jo looked at them, all sleek brown fur and twitchy noses. They looked a little shocked, although Jo wasn't sure rabbits understood the concept of magic, or teleportation.

Dani twitched her nose as though she was going to sneeze, and Jo stared at her until she said, "You don't speak Rabbit do you?"

"No."

"You can name them what you want, they'll understand." Dani looked at them, her face twitching as though she was talking. "Dandelion, Marigold, Timothy." She looked at Jo who was still staring at them. "They thought it would save you the confusion."

Dandelion trotted over to Jo, standing on her hind legs as she looked up and Jo knelt down so that Dandelion could rub her chin over Jo's hand. Marigold and Timothy came over and did the same before wandering around the kitchen to see where everything was. Dani took a carrot out of the fridge and chopped it up for them, putting it on a small plate and leaving it on the floor for them.

Jo watched as they ate, wondering how they were going to manage with a baby and three rabbits in the flat, the place was starting to feel seriously crowded all of a sudden.

"You don't have to worry, they're not staying. They just wanted to see where I was going to be living." Dani stopped looking through the crates of books. "I didn't read your mind, I know you've blocked me. But you get lots of wrinkles on your forehead when you're thinking, or worrying."

"They can stay if you want, if they want." Jo was sure they could make it work, and having a few furry friends in the flat wasn't too much of a compromise.

Dani twitched and the rabbits looked at her. "Dandelion wants to stay, she's sick of being a third wheel to Marigold and Timothy."

Jo was starting to think that Dani was winding her up, but there was no trace of a smile on her face. "Okay then." Jo felt the exhaustion of the day catch up with her, she could do with a good night's sleep, a solid eight hours to make up for the fact that she'd barely slept last night. "I'll see you in the morning."

*

Jo woke up with a little furry nose prodding at her, and she blinked a few times until she saw Dandelion sitting on her pillow, her whiskers glinting in the sunlight. The flat was quiet and when Jo wandered through to the kitchen she saw that Dani had left her a note.

_I think it would be best if some of these books were kept at the shop, there's a lot of power in them and keeping them in the flat with the baby around is probably a bad idea._

Jo could sense the aura that some of the books had around them, quite a few were dark magic and Jo knew that they were better off somewhere else. She had a small room at the back of the shop that was for books and items to do with dark magic, shielded so that no-one could sense their power and so that they couldn't get ideas. It wouldn't be the first or the last time that things to do with dark magic had taken on a life of their own.

She cast a quick spell to neutralise them, it wouldn't last very long but it would mean that she could transport them to the shop without worrying about them. Jo looked in on Maxine and Dani, both peacefully asleep as the sun streamed through a gap in the curtains.

Dandelion hopped through now that the door was open and leapt up onto the bed to join Dani, snuggling in next to her. Jo wasn't sure that leaving the rabbit and the baby in the same room was a good idea, but Dani seemed to trust her. Jo left the door open so Dandelion could get out and said good bye to them all.

It didn't take her long to load up the car, she thought about using magic, but with the type of books, it wasn't a good idea to let them have any more power. At least the shop had a little bit of space at the back for deliveries, she could unload them all without having to climb any more stairs.

With Dani fully moved in and her grandmother's books securely stored, everything was starting to feel like it was falling into place, between the two of them they could offer Maxine a good life, keep her safe from evil.

That was the main reason taking a soul as payment was frowned upon now, it wasn't just that it was unethical to take someone else's child, or that the paperwork for adopting the child was so difficult to obtain to make it all legal, but the fact that it left the new-born vulnerable to dark magic.

Jo had no doubt that they would give Maxine a good life, as long as everyone kept their ends of the deal, then it would all be fine.


	3. Birthday

A few weeks passed and they all settled into a nice routine, Maxine seemed to get bigger every day and Dani smiled more, both of which made Jo happy to see. It was going to be Dani's birthday in a couple of days, and although she hadn't said anything, Jo wanted to do something nice for her, since she'd been looking after Maxine non-stop since they'd adopted her.

She'd also made her a gift, Dani didn't really seem to be one for material things, apart from her books, but Jo was sure that she would like it.

Marcia had said that she would baby sit, since she knew exactly what was going on, and by the time that Dani's birthday finally came, Jo was excited for the first time in a long while.

Jo had wished that she didn't have to go into work at all today, but she was going to make breakfast in bed for Dani. It wasn't particularly fancy, but she just wanted her to know that she was appreciated.

"Happy Birthday!" Jo said quietly, Maxine was still sleeping, but it wouldn't be long before she was awake, ready for her usual feeding time. She gave Dani a kiss on the cheek before sitting down on the bed next to her, waiting for her to sit up before handing her the tray.

"Thank you." Dani looked at the pancakes, with cream and berries on them, and a cup of coffee. Coffee was all that was keeping her going while Maxine settled into a routine. "Aren't you having any?"

"I ate mine while I waited for yours to cook." Jo motioned for Dani to eat her food before it got cold. It was sweet of Dani to worry about her, although she had it easy, going to the shop each day while Dani tried to grab a few hours' sleep in between feeding Maxine.

"Are they okay?" Jo asked as Dani took a bite, watching as she nodded in response. Just as she was starting the second bite Maxine cried out and Jo rushed over to her, bottle in hand, before picking Maxine up, holding her tight and kissing her forehead as she waited for her to calm down.

"It's okay, mummy's got you." Maxine held her tiny little hands out, trying to grab at the bottle as Jo fed her and Dani smiled at how adorable it looked. It was the best birthday present that she could think of.

Jo hadn't wanted to leave, but she had to go and open the shop, at least she'd got a chance to see Maxine and Dani happy and smiling before she left for work.

She had managed to get a friend to look after the shop for the afternoon, so that she could come home and spend time with Dani and Maxine. They'd gone to the park, to get some fresh air while the good weather lasted.

Dani was singing to Maxine as they sat on a park bench, watching a squirrel run about. "I've got Marcia to come round and look after Maxine for the evening, I thought we could do something special for your birthday?"

The way Dani smiled made Jo feel warm inside, she looked so happy. "I'd like that."

Jo couldn't believe that she was only going to be twenty-two, she acted much wiser than her years suggested, although Jo was the same, she wasn't sure of many people in their twenties who thought of a film and a quiet night as an exciting way to spend their Friday nights.

It had been nice to help Dani with all the little things that needed doing for Maxine, and by the time Maxine was bathed and fed, that left them with half an hour to get ready before Marcia came round to babysit.

Jo spent ages trying to decide what to wear, she wanted to look nice, but she didn't really have many clothes that fitted that remit, she was more a t-shirt dress and a cardigan kind of girl. In the end she settled for a black dress that she'd worn to a funeral, and a shawl that she'd been given as a gift, a nice deep blue that matched her eyes. She would just have to hope that it didn't rain.

It had been so long since she wore make up that wasn't lip gloss that she cheated, using a spell to make it all perfect and Dandelion watched her with a knowing eye. As a rule Jo tried not to use her magic unless it was absolutely necessary, but she was going to make an exception this one time.

"You have to be a good girl tonight," Jo said to the rabbit, and Dandelion appeared to understand, hopping up onto Jo's bed and curling up in a ball.

There was a knock on the door and Jo slid on her heels and rushed to answer it. Marcia was there but she'd also brought her friend.

"You know Keva," Marcia said, and Jo nodded, she wasn't expecting anyone else. Jo wondered what Marcia had told her, since there was no way that she'd told Keva that her and Dani were raising a child that had been promised to them as part of a deal for payment of magical services. Or had she?

"Come in." Jo tried to keep the shock off her face as she led them through to the living room where Dani was dressed up in heels and make-up, with a dressing gown thrown over it all so that she could feed little Maxine.

"Keva and her girlfriend Steph are thinking of adopting too," Marcia said, raising an eyebrow as Jo nodded. So, she'd told Keva that Jo and Dani were together and that they'd adopted Maxine.

Dani came through, she looked stunning in her dress, a change from her usual jeans and t-shirt, although she looked amazing in them too. Her hair was down in gentle waves around her face, making her face look less angular, softer somehow. And Jo was glad that she wasn't the only one who was ridiculously tall in her heels.

"This is my girlfriend Dani," Jo said, and she put down the shields so that Dani could listen to her thoughts, it would probably come in handy now.

Keva asked a lot of questions, mainly about the adoption process and Jo answered them all truthfully, well nearly all of them. She may have implied that Dani was there while all of it was being arranged, which considering they had no idea who the other was at that time, it would have been impossible for Jo to have predicted that she wouldn't be raising Maxine alone. Jo gave Keva the name of the adoption agency, one of the women who worked there was an ex-coven member, although she'd given up that life now.

"We won't be too late," Jo said, and Dani nodded in agreement.

"Have a nice evening." Marcia smiled and Jo gave Marcia a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Marcia knew where everything was and she knew just to help herself. Jo had to resist the urge to check on Maxine, but she didn't want to wake her if she was sleeping.

"She'll be fine," Dani said as they left the flat. Jo knew that she was just being silly, but it was the first time that she'd left Maxine with anyone other than Dani.

"There's a nice Italian restaurant in town, I thought we could try it?"

"I can do better than that." Dani's pouty lips twitched and she took Jo's hand, her skin soft and fingers ever so delicate. Jo felt a rush of air, and then they were standing in an alley, but the architecture was very different to anything that she had seen in Britain. "Let's got to a real Italian restaurant."

Jo grinned as they stepped out of the alley into the warm sun, trying to take in all of the sights as Dani dragged her towards the main square, where people were sat outside eating, not a care in the world.

Dani led them to a little restaurant on the corner of the plaza, and she spoke fluent Italian, which surprised Jo. The waiter led them to a secluded table, and Dani lounged in the sun, ordering cocktails for them.

The place was busy, and yet it felt like they were the only two people in the world, the noise of the crowd fading away as she watched Dani relax. "Can you really speak Italian?" Jo asked, she wasn't sure if it was just a spell or if it was something she had learned.

"Yes. My family lived here when I was a teenager." Dani smiled as she saw the waiter approaching, she looked genuinely happy to see him, and the large drinks that he was carrying on a tray.

Jo had never asked if Dani liked guys, the baby had taken up all of their spare time.

Dani leant in and whispered, "I'm bi. Like you." Dani sat back in her seat with a grin of satisfaction on her face.

Jo had forgotten all about removing the shield so that Dani could read her thoughts and she blushed as she sipped at her drink, unable to look Dani in the eye.

"I…" Jo didn't know what to say, but she was spared an awkward conversation since the food had arrived. She couldn't believe that they'd been living together for a few weeks and yet she didn't know that Dani lived in Italy for a while, although it explained her love of Italian food. They'd not talked about dating, although Jo's dating history was a few dates and a brief fling with a wizard that didn't work out, not because he wasn't magical, but because they just weren't meant to be.

But if their cover was that they were girlfriends who had adopted Maxine, then dating wasn't going to be an issue for them.

She picked at her food, glad that she had a distraction, and it was nice to see Dani enjoying herself. It didn't take them long to clear their plates, and Jo hoped that their main courses would be as quick in arriving, if nothing else, to save her from having to talk for another twenty minutes. But she had no such luck, the waiter came to take the plates, now that Jo had got a good look at him she could see he was quite handsome, shoulder-length dark hair and a lovely smile.

He looked at Jo and she looked away blushing, waiting for Dani to order more drinks. The waiter smiled at them both, winking as he left to get their order.

"He's cute," Dani said, and Jo only blushed more. "It's okay to talk about these things, I won't judge."

"I don't talk about things like that, not with anyone." Jo relaxed a little but she still wasn't at ease. "Anyway our cover for adopting Maxine is that we're meant to be a couple."

"True, but no-one in Italy knows that." Dani winked and Jo glanced over her shoulder to see the waiter returning with their drinks.

Jo smiled, but she felt a wave of jealousy, she had got used to thinking of Dani as hers. Although Dani didn't know anyone else, she had nothing outside of the house, no social activities, no job, no classes. Jo was going to have to change that.

She must have sat zoned out for a while, letting her thoughts spiral, and when she came back to reality her pizza was sitting in front of her and Dani was chatting to the waiter, but it didn't sound like Italian, although Jo didn't know enough Italian to say for sure.

"He's from Spain, but he's studying here," Dani said, as though she could read Jo's mind, and Jo had to double check that she'd shielded her mind from Dani. She had, so her thoughts must be written all over her face. "Not enjoying yourself?"

"No, I was just thinking about everything and how much having Maxine must have changed your life, while mine has stayed mostly the same." Jo shook her head as she took another bite of her pizza, it was amazing pizza, and she had to give it to Dani, this really was something special.

Dani reached out to take Jo's hand, holding it tight even though they were in a public place. "I could have ran away, I could have taken Maxine and ran, but I didn't, I chose this. I knew what inheriting my grandmother's estate meant, that I would have to deal with the consequences of her unethical business with dark magic, I just never thought it would include a new-born child."

Jo felt the same, she never thought that she would have to deal with a baby, in all her time helping others with dark magic, she had never expected anyone to make a deal for someone's first born child. Although she knew the seriousness of the deal that had resulted in this. But anyone else would have said no, and she knew why the rest of the coven were upset when it happened, they knew that this was going to fall to them to sort out, that the one who had made the deal wouldn't live to collect. Banishing her from the coven, swearing never to mention her name again, didn't seem like enough of a punishment.

"Are you happy with it? With us?" Jo asked, she wished that she'd asked before now, that she hadn't waited to check up on Dani, and she was going to have to make a point of looking out for her. Just because she acted like nothing bothered her, didn't mean that was true.

"Yes." Dani nodded, sipping at her drink before wiping the lipstick from the rim. "I was all alone, apart from Dandelion and her friends, but now I have you and Maxine to keep me company."

Jo was glad that they weren't lonely any more, but that wasn't going to stop her trying to get Dani to socialise a bit more, that way she could feel less guilty about her only having Maxine for company during the day. Although she was adorable, she wasn't much of a talker, yet.

They were waiting for dessert when Jo noticed the small wrapped box in her handbag and she wanted to put the smile back on Dani's face after their deep conversation. "I made you a little something."

Dani's face lit up at the sight of the box, it was wrapped with a thin gold fabric and tied with a beautiful purple bow, shimmering perfectly in the red glow of the setting sun.

"Thank you, it's beautiful." Dani pulled the end of the ribbon and the wrapping fell away, like a flower opening, to reveal a small box. She held it carefully before opening it, her mouth hanging open as she stared at the bracelet. It looked like any other charm bracelet that had become so popular lately, but this one was special.

Each icon had a different spell imbued into the metal.

"Touch them." Jo bit her lip as she watched Dani's hand touch the one with a little heart engraved on it.

"I can hear a heartbeat." Dani looked confused as she tried to work out if it was Jo's heartbeat. Was it her own?

"It's Maxine's, whenever you're apart you can still feel her." Jo held Dani's free hand as tears started to well up in her eyes. "This one lets you see her," Jo said, pointing to an ornate eye next to it.

Dani touched it and closed her eyes.

 

_Marcia and Keva were sitting watching Maxine sleep, the sound of the tv playing away in the background as they ate pizza._

_"I can't wait to have my own little one," Keva said, staring at Maxine longingly._

_"You're going to be an amazing mum one day, Keva."_

_Marcia gave Keva a hug and they went back to watching Maxine sleep, her little eyes moving as she dreamt._

 

"This is the most amazing gift. Thank you, Jo." Dani rushed round to give Jo a hug, she was unsteady on her feet after all the cocktails, and she draped herself over Jo.

"I'm glad that you liked it. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate having you around, and everything that you do for Maxine and me."

Dessert arrived and Dani peeled herself off of Jo, returning to her seat so that she could eat her ice cream. She had the biggest smile on her face and Jo felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

Dani spent the rest of the evening seeing what each other the other charms did. The music notes, two joined quavers, played her favourite songs, and the rabbit allowed her to see what Marigold and Timothy were up to back in the forest.

"They're busy," Dani said, laughing at a sight that only she could see. She was holding the beads and tilting her head, eyes closed as she tried to sense what they did.

"I just thought they were pretty," Jo said, and Dani laughed some more, they were her favourite colours, all shades of purple.

"They are so pretty. Thank you." Dani was watching Maxine again, she would probably be sound asleep, but she knew that just being able to see her baby would make Dani happy. It had taken her a while to figure out what was most important to Dani, and Maxine was top of that list. Followed closely by her furry friends, and her music.

Jo knew that this was a big step for them, they were no longer roommates who happened to share custody of a child. They were friends now, and Jo was determined to be a better friend to Dani, support her with whatever she wanted to do with her life. All she wanted was for Dani to be happy.

The waiter came over with the bill, his name and number scribbled at the bottom of it – Carlos.

Dani dragged her eyes over him as she left, and he blew a kiss to them both before waving goodbye as they slipped into the crowds of tourists milling around the plaza. Jo held Dani's hand tight, not wanting her to fall over as her drinks seemed to have gone to her head.

Once they were back in the alley that they arrived in, Dani gave Jo a big hug, her lithe frame gracefully wrapping herself around Jo and she whispered, "Thank you. No-one's ever done anything like this for me before."

Jo couldn't believe that it was true, but she knew that it would be the first of many things that she would do for Dani. The mother of her child.

When Jo opened her eyes they were back in the stairway for Jo's block of flats, no-one else was about and the sun was still setting here, since it was much higher up than Rome.

They stumbled back into the flat, Marcia and Keva were still sitting on the sofa, watching over little Maxine as she dozed and Jo pressed her finger to her lips to make sure that Dani kept quiet. But seeing Maxine again seemed to sober her up instantly and she wandered over to her crib, no longer stumbling with her high heels as she stood over Maxine as she slept, stroking the fine wisp of hair on her head as Maxine seemed to relax, no longer squirming in her sleep.

"Did you have a nice night?" Marcia whispered, watching as Jo took off her heels before coming to stand beside Dani, admiring their baby before answering.

"Fantastic night. Thank you for babysitting." Jo went in for a hug and knocked over Marcia's empty coffee cup, which woke Maxine up. She thought she'd got away with it but then the screaming came and Dani picked her up, holding her tight until she'd settled down.

Marcia and Keva crept out while Maxine was making a lot of noise, Jo waved goodbye as Dani tried to comfort Maxine.

"Is this your present to your mama?" Jo said, and Maxine smiled. "Do you think that's funny?" Maxine smiled some more and Jo saw that Dani had tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Mama. I like it," Dani said, sitting down on the sofa gently with Maxine still secure in her arms. Jo slung her arm around Dani, holding her and Maxine close until the little one drifted off to sleep again.

"I should get you to bed," Jo said to Maxine, and Dani laughed.

"Not on a first date." Dani winked as she took Maxine through to her bedroom, Jo followed with the crib, waiting until Maxine was sound before leaving. "Thank you, for everything."

Jo gave Dani a kiss on the cheek, standing on her tiptoes to reach Dani, who was still in her heels. "Anytime sweetie."


	4. Dramatic Timing

Little Maxine wasn't so little any more, she had grown so much in just eight months, but there was about to be some big changes. Dani was going home for Christmas, to see her family in Russia, and she wasn't taking them with her.

She'd been packing for a couple of days, making sure that she had her laptop with her so that she could carry on studying while she was there. Dani had started an online degree to become a librarian, and it was nice that some of it was done through the local university, so she actually got to meet up with others on her course, even if she did the majority of it from home.

They were waiting for Maxine to say her first word, so far there had been lots of noises, but she was yet to put it all together to make a whole word. Dani was worried that Maxine would do it while she was away, and that she'd miss it after all this time encouraging her to speak.

"I will find a way to make sure you can hear her first words." Jo took Dani's hand, Maxine was crawling about and Dandelion was watching over her, nudging her in the right direction with her little fuzzy nose.

"I wish I could take you guys with me." Dani gave Jo a hug, eyes still locked on Maxine as she sped around the room on her hands and knees. Even though she wasn't walking she was fast, at this rate, learning to walk would slow her down a bit.

"Why can't you?"

Dani frowned and Jo knew the answer before she even said it. "I can't take my fake girlfriend home. It's just too complicated."

"Shut your eyes." Jo waited for Dani to do it, before there was a rubbing sound, like skin rubbing against skin. "You can open them now."

"Wh-?" Dani stared at where Jo had been sitting, and there was now a tall lanky man, wearing the same dress and cardigan. Apart from the short hair and the stubble in the shape of a goatee he looked almost the same as Jo in her female form.

"I could come with you as your fake boyfriend?"

"Too complicated." Dani laughed, she wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't for Jo to turn into a man. "I want them to meet you, but as you. As the mother of my child."

Jo let out a deep breath and transformed back into herself in front of Dani's eyes. They were staring at each other when Dandelion thumped and they both turned to stare at her standing next to Maxine.

"Buh-ni." Maxine squealed, pointing at Dandelion.

Dani gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, staring at Maxine as Dandelion hopped over to them, looking proud of herself. "She spoke! Our baby spoke!"

"She didn't want you to miss it," Jo said, holding Dani's hand as tears brimmed up in her eyes. Dani brushed away Jo's tears as her own eyes started to water.

"Buh-ni, buhni, bunni, bunny!" Maxine laughed as Dandelion ran around in front of her, making her say the word bunny over and over again as she crawled around after her.

"We're going to miss you so much." The tears were streaming down Jo's face, and she rested her forehead against Dani's, staring into her eyes as they both sniffled, laughing at how silly they were being.

Maxine crawled off at speed, following Dandelion to the kitchen as Dani and Jo rushed after them. Dandelion was sitting by the cupboard that had her kibbles in, and it was time for Maxine to have breakfast too, which meant that it was time for Jo to go to work.

"Cali's going to cover the shop this afternoon so I can get some time with you before I take you to the airport." Jo was glad that Cali had wandered into her life, she'd come into the shop looking for a few things to make a potion to help her study for her exams, but it'd had some unexpected consequences and Cali had needed Jo's assistance to put everything right.

Cali wasn't part of any coven and when she realised that her study potion had basically created a copy of her so that she had time to study and do everything else, that was when she'd come back to the shop asking Jo for her help. Since then Jo had taken Cali under her wing, and it had been nice to have someone that she trusted to look after the shop when she was busy. It fitted nicely with Cali's job as a freelance translator and she liked keeping her hand in with her magical side, which she hid most of the time.

It took all of Jo's self-control to drag herself away from her beautiful family. As she left Dandelion was eating her kibbles and Maxine was trying to steal them from the bowl. Dani picked Maxine up so she could put her into her high seat for breakfast.

"Wave goodbye to mummy," Dani said. Jo was tempted just to call Cali and let her look after the shop all day, but there were a few complex orders that needed making, and Jo knew that with looking after Maxine she wasn't going to have as much spare time as she used to.

Although her and Maxine were heading home to Jo's family for the holidays, and she was glad that she was going to be able to celebrate the winter solstice with them. She was also going to surprise them with the fact that she'd adopted Maxine, although her whole family had magic in their blood, so she wouldn't have to hide the truth from them, not like Dani.

Dani was the only one in her family that was magical, her grandmother was the only other one, but she'd never let anyone other than Dani know. Her daughter, Dani's mum, just thought that she was eccentric, with lots of rich lovers that kept her in a life of luxury. Only Dani knew the truth.

By the time Jo had walked to work, she had decided that she should do something to show Dani how much she would be missed, and Jo knew exactly what she was going to do.

Jo spent the day making sure all the orders were filled as soon as they were taken, she was determined to stay ahead of it all since she was taking a week off to go home, and the shop was going to be shut for that time. She'd put up a sign saying that they were going to be closed for the winter solstice, and that the last orders were to be placed by the close of business tomorrow, so that they could be filled before the shop closed for the week.

"Thank you for looking after the shop this afternoon, if there's any strange orders let me know and I'll come in this evening after I've dropped Dani at the airport," Jo said to Cali, and she nodded. Although Cali was getting quite competent with making more advanced things without any adverse effects, there were still a few things that she needed a little supervision with. And Jo could no longer make potions at home with a baby in the house, but she could get Marcia, or Keva and Steph, to watch Maxine while she came down to the shop for a few hours.

"Sure." Cali peered at the little bit of metal that Jo was engraving. "What is that?"

"It's a charm, simple magic really, touching it evokes certain memories. In this case, Maxine's first words."

Cali smiled and Jo told her all about how she said 'bunny' although Jo was hoping that she'd say mama first, as that would have made Dani so happy. But it wasn't a surprise that bunny was her first word, Maxine was fascinated by Dandelion, and Jo was sure that in the near future Dani wasn't going to be the only one who was able to communicate with rabbits in the house.

"Are you going home to Germany for the winter solstice?" Jo asked, she wasn't sure if Cali's parents were like them or not.

"Yes, and Christmas. We celebrate both in our house." Cali took out her phone and found a photo of her and her parents. They all looked so happy, and Jo looked forward to the day that she and Dani could celebrate together, with Maxine, as a family.

"Such a pretty family." Jo showed Cali yet another picture of Maxine, her phone was filled with them, and she was sure that Cali was bored of seeing them but she was just so proud of Maxine, and Dani.

Lunchtime rolled around after what felt like an eternity and Jo left the shop after she had made Cali check that she had her number and making her confirm that she would call Jo if any strange orders came in.

Jo wandered out into the chilly December air, a small wrapped box in her pocket and she hoped that Dani would like it. Dani was studying and Maxine was having her nap when Jo got home, she made cup of tea, and a coffee for Dani, before sitting next to her on the sofa, handing her the gift as Dani put her text book down.

"You got me a christmas present? I don't celebrate christmas?" Dani looked at Jo with confusion.

"It's not a christmas present. It's a happy December fourteenth present." Jo handed over the little box, and Dani watched in fascination as the wrapping paper peeled itself away with nothing more than a tug of the ribbon. Inside was a small box, the same size as the one that Dani's birthday present had been in, but the box contained just a single charm to be added to the bracelet.

On the charm was a pair of lips, and Dani touched her finger to it, the sound of Maxine saying 'bunny' over and over again played in a loop as Dani smiled. "Thank you."

"We're going to miss you." Jo brushed a strand of hair out of Dani's face, letting her see Dani's beautiful smile as she added the charm to her bracelet.

"I'm going to miss you." Dani stared into Jo's eyes, fluttering her eyelashes as she leant in, letting their lips meet, the sound of a rabbit skittering about on the hard kitchen floor was the only sound but all Dani could hear was the pounding of her heart. She'd been waiting to do this for a while, they'd fallen into such an easy routine that the thought of upsetting it was a real worry. She had thought that it was just their shared love of Maxine that was making her think she had romantic feelings for Jo. But the more that she thought about it, the more that she realised she had genuine feelings for Jo, and that she wanted to do something about them.

Jo couldn't believe that Dani was kissing her, ever since Dani's birthday she'd thought about doing this, but she didn't want to make her feel pressured, or obliged, to be her girlfriend. She would have been happy having Dani as a friend to help her raise Maxine for the rest of her life, but it hadn't stopped her wondering what it would be like if they were a couple.

Dani ran her fingers through Jo's hair, using it to deepen the kiss and her plump lips felt like heaven against her own. The kisses were slow at first, lazy swipes of the lips but then Dani's hand was inching its way inside Jo's top, teasing at her breasts as Jo pulled Dani onto her lap, pressing their bodies close. She felt an electric surge as the warmth of Dani's body surrounded her, happy to be close to her, and she knew that the next week without her was going to be even more difficult. But at least she knew that Dani would be coming back as her girlfriend.

A little alarm went off and they both groaned, it was time to head to the airport. Jo just hoped that Maxine wouldn't be too grumpy if she woke, but luckily she managed to get her from her crib and into the car seat without waking her.

By the time they got to the airport Maxine was wide awake and wriggling in her seat, excited to be going on a car journey, they mostly just walked everywhere, although a lot of that was due to the amount of time that it took to get Maxine settled in her car seat.

Jo wasn't sure if taking Maxine into the busy airport was the best idea, but she wanted to have as much time with Dani as possible, so they waited with her while she checked in and then walked her to the security gate.

"Say bye to mama," Jo said, and Maxine reached out for Dani. She took Maxine out of Jo's arms and gave her a big hug, tears brimming up in her eyes, this was the first time that they were going to be separated for a long period of time.

"I'm going to miss you baby girl." Maxine pulled at Dani's hair, her coordination was getting better every day and Dani smiled.

Jo leant in to hug them both, kissing Dani on the cheek as she let her lips linger. "Call me when you land, okay?"

Dani nodded before handing Maxine back to Jo, wandering off into the depths of the airport as Jo and Maxine stood watching until she was out of sight.

The drive home was a sad one, and Jo curled up in Dani's bed that night, not wanting to change anything for Maxine and upset her sleeping routine. It was also nice to have Dani's scent around her, letting Jo feel a connection even though she was hundreds of miles away.

*

Jo had brought Maxine to the shop, it was only for one day and Maxine was happy to have Cali to play with, Jo was sure that Dandelion would be breathing a sigh of relief, if rabbits did that. Since Maxine had got more mobile, the rabbit was her number one target, and although Dani had asked Dandelion if she was alright with that, there was definitely an increase in the number of huffy sounds that Dandelion had made recently.

Cali was levitating a few of Maxine's toys as she watched in fascination, her eyes wide with amazement as she tried to grab the floating fluffy toys. It would be a while before Maxine exhibited any powers, by being payment for magical services, she was going to be imbued with magic even if her biological parents weren't.

"Any unusual orders that need making?" Jo asked, as she looked over all the things that she had to get done by tomorrow.

"No. Although there was a strange one, a customer asking for a tracker spell. Except he wasn't magical, there would have been no way for him to use it." Cali twisted one of her curls, letting it ping back into place as Maxine grabbed a small stuffed rabbit out of the air and began to chew on it.

"What did you tell him?" Jo frowned, no-one should know about the shop unless they were magical. Or a magician, and they didn't come asking for spells.

"I told him that he would need DNA from the person he wanted to track. I was hoping that would put him off, but he said that he was going to use his own DNA to track a child." Cali shook her head, there was something about the man that was off, but she couldn't put her finger on what. "I said that it would only track him, which would be pointless."

"Did you give him anything?" Jo asked, sometimes the easiest way to deal with customers like that was just to give them some powdered herbs and send them on their way.

"No, I told him that I wouldn't sell him something I knew would fail. Bad business." Cali picked the toys out of the air, placing them in Maxine's playpen.

"Good. Let me know if you see him again, I'll find out who's been telling audience members about our tricks." Jo was a little worried, the reason they all got to live a nice quiet life was because non-magical people, 'audience members' or 'the audience' as the magicians referred to them, didn't know that magic was real. They wanted to believe, hence the large number of magicians working in the area, but they could never know. It wouldn't end well for her fellow witches.

"Oh, I forgot to say. Roberto phoned, he's coming to collect the guillotine today," Cali said, and Jo smiled, they were going to get some funny looks helping him take it to the van. All the sharp bits were padded and secured, but the main part was so big that it would have to be carried out as it was.

"Have you met Roberto before?" Jo asked, she wandered through to the side-room, she could see Maxine from the till, but the second she walked in the room Maxine smiled and held her arms out so that she could be picked up for a hug.

"No, but I know of him." Cali went to put the kettle on for coffee, watching Jo and Maxine with a smile on her face.

"He's a fun guy, you'll like him."

It would be nearly the end of the day before Roberto showed up, he had a natural flair for dramatic timing, and he looked every bit the part as a magician. The velvet jacket and the mountains of lace ruffles made him seem like he had stepped straight out of the 1920s and the way he tipped his hat made Cali smile. He wasn't quite as tall as Jo, but the way he walked made him seem important and the way he was dressed was design to draw and confuse the eye, attraction and misdirection rolled into one. Even his beard made him look like he should be a stage performer, or Satan.

He strolled up to the counter where Cali was standing, shaking his hair out of his face like a model at a photoshoot before asking if his order was ready to collect.

Jo darted out of the side room, Maxine held tightly in her arms and Roberto rushed across to fuss over her.

"Hello little one. What's your name?" Roberto said, and Maxine reached out to tug at Roberto's long hair.

"This is Maxine, my girlfriend and I adopted her." Jo was trying to get Maxine to let go of Roberto's hair but she had a tight grip and a pout that said 'if you make me let go there will be tears'.

"Aren't you so cute?" Roberto fussed over her and Maxine carried on pulling his hair but he didn't seem to mind.

"You're magical and yet you work as a magician?" Cali could sense that he was like them.

"Just because I am a witch, doesn't mean that I can't work as a magician." Roberto shrugged before standing up straight, holding his hand out as though he was addressing a crowd. "Illusions and real magic blended seamlessly to the point that no-one knows where one ends and the other begins."

Maxine had stopped pulling at Jo's hair long enough to watch Roberto deliver his spiel before smiling at them.

"I'm sure the audience loves it. But aren't you a wizard?" Cali asked, and Jo flinched, Roberto was known to talk at length about these things and she was hoping to get home at a reasonable time to feed and bath Maxine.

"I am a witch, like the long line of men and women before me. I use the word to honour that rich history and protect its legacy."

"Oh." Cali stared at Roberto, wondering if he was joking or not.

"The word used to be gender neutral but trust English to mess it all up." Roberto laughed and Cali jumped because of how loud and booming it was.

"Cali are you okay to watch Maxine while I help Roberto get all this out to his van?" Jo asked, putting Maxine back in her playpen and she pouted before finding out her stuffed rabbit, chewing on it. She was sure that Maxine was about to start teething, and that wasn't going to be fun for any of them.

Luckily the street was quiet and they managed to get everything loaded up without too many distractions.

"Are you going home for the winter solstice?" Jo asked, and Roberto shook his head, making all his thick, fluffy hair dance around his head.

"No, I have to work. The christmas holidays are the busiest time for me. But I'll honour it, in my own way." Roberto's smile was a grin and Jo could only imagine what he had in store for his audience.

"Have a good one." Jo waved goodbye, shivering as she hurried back into the shop. It was gone six and she could lock up without feeling any guilt.

There was just one more day before her and Maxine would be heading home, it would be good to see everyone again, and tell them everything that had happened.


	5. Winter Solstice

The drive home had been a long one, Maxine cried for a lot of the journey, her face pink with tears and no matter what Jo did she wouldn't calm down. It had taken many stops and a lot of hugs but Jo was finally pulling into her parents' driveway, and she knew that between them they could figure out what to do to help Maxine.

Jo felt her stomach twist as she knocked on the door, and waiting for someone to answer felt like time had ground to a halt, trapping her in this moment of torture. But then her brother, Will, answered the door, and she felt relief wash over her. He seemed to get taller every time that she saw him and that was saying something considering she was six foot.

"Who's this little one?" Will said, ducking down to see Maxine, she had stopped crying for now, but Jo was sure that it was because she was too tired to cry any more.

"This is Maxine. My daughter."

Will laughed in a way that sent Jo into alert, it was the same laugh he used whenever they got into trouble as kids. "Mum's going to freak out."

"Probably." Jo looked down to see that Maxine was finally smiling, and she breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Maxine was happy, everything else would be fine. "Where is everyone?"

"Supermarket. They're stocking up for the week."

Will went out to get their bags and Jo headed up to her old childhood room, it looked exactly the same as the last time she was here. There was more than enough space for Maxine's fold out crib, and all of her toys. Dandelion had decided to go back to the forest while everyone was away, visit her friends for a couple of weeks and be able to enjoy the outdoors again, although there were a lot of things that she enjoyed about living the life of luxury as a house rabbit.

Jo changed and fed Maxine, lulling her to sleep while Will watched from the doorway. "Being a mum looks good on you."

Maxine stretched and yawned, she was ready to sleep, and Jo put her into the crib, making sure that her favourite stuffed toy was next to her. She was torn about leaving her to sleep somewhere unfamiliar, but she would know soon enough if Maxine was awake, for something so tiny she sure did have an impressive set of lungs.

"She'll be okay while we get a cup of tea." Will peered over to watch Maxine sleep, before patting Jo on the arm, leading her away.

Not a lot was said while tea was made and Jo was hoping that she would just have to tell everyone once, she didn't want to be repeating the story over and over again. She'd got used to it all and she couldn't quite figure out why she hadn't told her family before now. Although she wasn't sure that she could have dealt with a baby, a brand new co-parent and her family telling her what a bad idea it all was.

Will got some left over cake out of a tin, drowning it in cream before sliding the plate over to Jo and handing her a spoon.

"Want to talk about it?" Will asked, and Jo shook her head.

"Tell me what you've been up to." Jo hoped that it would fill the time until her parents got back, and then she could tell everyone about Maxine, and Dani, and the deal.

Will told her all about university, and how he was thinking of joining a coven there, but he wasn't sure he'd have the time for it all, studying and placements were taking up all of his time.

There was the sound of a car crunching along the gravel in the driveway and Jo froze, her heart rate soaring as she waited for her parents to come in.

"Hi, sweetie." Jo's mum rushed in for a hug as her dad and sisters brought in the shopping, it seemed like a lot of food but with seven of them it wouldn't last long. Although she was starting to think that maybe she should have told them that she was bringing Maxine in advance, but she had a bag full of baby meals that she'd made and stored already for her picky little eater.

Jo was saying hi to everyone and catching up when a blood curdling cry came from her room, Maxine was awake in an unfamiliar place, and she wanted her mummy. She bolted upstairs, leaving her family looking confused as Will tried to calm everyone.

Maxine was standing up in her crib, eyes darting around for anything familiar as she held her stuffed rabbit tight, tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay little one." Jo held her tight, rocking her until she was calm before grabbing her blanket, she would probably go back to sleep shortly now that Jo was close by.

She crept down the stairs, her blood pressure climbing as she slipped into the living room to see five people staring at her, waiting for an explanation.

Her dad patted the seat next to him and she saw that there was another cup of tea waiting for her, which was a simple comfort that she appreciated. Jo sat down and got comfy so that Maxine could cuddle in, peering out at all the strange people. She took a sip of her tea, not caring that everyone was waiting for her to talk, and held Maxine tight. Jo wasn't sure who was comforting who at this point.

"So… This is Maxine, and I adopted her with my girlfriend Dani." Jo wasn't technically lying about any of it, her and Dani had been girlfriends for two days now, although she was sure that it gave the impression that they had been in a relationship for much longer.

There was a flurry of questions and Jo held her free hand up, waiting until Maxine was settled before letting anyone speak.

"How could you not tell us that you had a girlfriend?" her mum asked, and there was a hint of sadness in her voice, she knew her mum prided herself on knowing everything that was happening with her children, although Jo used to be sure that she did it by spying on them, but that clearly wasn't the case.

"It all happened so fast." Jo looked at her lap, arm reaching out for her cup of tea so that she didn't have to talk again for a minute.

"The baby's got magic in her." Her mum's eyes were wide with fear. "Jo, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. One of the coven members made this deal, that she would use magic to cure someone's illness, and in return she would get their first born child." Jo shook her head, she didn't want to have to relive this again. "But you know how that turns out, she who shall not be named succumbed to the illness that she had cured in Maxine's mum, leaving the coven responsible for collecting payment."

"Surely you banished her from the coven?" Will asked, but he wasn't looking for an answer, he was just thinking out loud.

"We did, but that doesn't cancel out the burden after she died. So the rest of the coven went their separate ways, and left me hoping that no-one who made that kind of deal would ever be stupid enough to have a child, knowing that they couldn't raise it."

"Maybe that was what she wanted?" Her sister shrugged in apology. If she had seen Sophie she'd have known that wasn't true, although there was something off about the husband, but that wasn't enough to make a judgement about their intentions. It was something that they would never know.

"But, she who shall not be named, wasn't the only one that was promised Maxine. The father had made a deal-"

"You're dating someone who practices dark magic?" The anger was clear in her mum's voice, she had raised her children to respect the powers that they had been given, to use them wisely and not give darkness any place in their lives.

Jo glared at her mother, she was going to finish the story no matter who interrupted her now. "The father made a deal with Dani's grandmother. She was the one who profited from dark magic. But her grandmother passed before this one was born, so she had to come and collect her." No-one said anything and Jo looked down at Maxine. "Dani has nothing to do with that world, she's studying to be a librarian. And the only way to make sure that we were all safe, was to adopt Maxine together."

Her dad put an arm around her, careful not to disturb Maxine and Jo felt herself relax. But then her mum spoke, "You know that you're inviting dark magic in with a deal like that."

"I'm inviting it in if I refuse to hold up my end of that deal. I'm the last of my coven, so it falls to me to honour the coven's deals." Jo tried to keep her voice low and even so that she wouldn't upset Maxine, there was no point causing any more pain and suffering.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner? We could have helped." She knew that her mum meant well, but it felt like she was disapproving of her choices, not that she'd really got a choice in the matter.

"What could you have done? There's no known way to break these bonds, and I'm happy with the situation."

"Happy?" Her mum at least looked sorry when Maxine thought about crying, but a lot of fussing and hugs stopped in from turning into a full blown crying and screaming fit.

"Dani and I are happy with the situation, Maxine has a good life, lots of people around her." Maxine had so many people that doted on her, and they had enough people that she knew and who babysat for her that if there was an emergency she could be left with them without too much distress. Marcia had been an angel, and Keva and Steph were going to have their own little one soon, who would be a similar age to Maxine and they could play together. Between that and the play group that they took Maxine to, she had a better social life than she ever had before.

"But not your family?"

Jo realised that was the problem, everything else could be forgiven, but denying her mum access to her granddaughter, was almost unforgivable.

"I just couldn't deal with being told that I made the wrong choice. When the coven dissolved I thought I could handle it and that _this_ would never come to pass. When was the last time you heard of anyone taking a first born child as payment?"

"Sweetie, no matter what you choose, we're still your family. And without your coven, we're you're only family."

"Not anymore." Jo smiled at Maxine and wrapped the blanket around her, letting her sleep comfortably.

Her dad held her tight, and she felt like she was a kid again, having to confess what she'd done wrong. But she was glad that it was now in the open. She could enjoy her holiday.

"So when do we get to meet Dani? Is she coming to join us?" Will asked, and Jo smiled just at the mention of Dani's name.

"She's home in Russia, and they don't know about Maxine yet." Jo yawned, and even though she hadn't had dinner she knew she was ready for sleep. Cake was going to have to count as dinner today. "We're going to sleep, it was a long journey. I'll see you in the morning."

Jo slunk out, holding Maxine like a shield as she walked, hoping that the rest of the questions could wait until the morning.

*

"Bunny! Bunny! Bunny!"

Jo woke to the sound of Maxine chanting the only word that she knew so far, she was pointing to the other side of the room as she stood at the edge of her crib.

"Morning little one. There's no bunnies here." Jo sat up, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked around but there was no sign of anyone else in the room. "Dandelion?"

Jo listened out for any sounds that would suggest a rabbit was wandering about but there was nothing apart from the sound of Maxine gurgling. She was starting to think that she was going crazy when her mum came in, holding a cup of tea and heading straight for Maxine's crib.

There was no stopping her mum, Jo ended up holding a cup of tea as Maxine debated whether or not to cry at being held by a stranger. "She needs changing."

Jo put her cup of tea down but her mum showed no sign of handing Maxine over. She got the nappies out of her suitcase, hoping that it would be enough to convince her mum to give Maxine back to her, but she just took the nappy and headed over to where Jo had left the changing mat last night.

Maxine didn't seem to care who was changing her, and once she was clean and dry, she started laughing and smiling again, repeating the word 'bunny'.

"Do you miss Dandelion?" Jo asked, but then she saw what Maxine was pointing at, her stuffed rabbit toy had been thrown across the room and was lying slumped against the skirting board. "How did you get there?"

Jo got out of bed and picked up the rabbit, handing it to Maxine, and she smiled once it was back in her hands.

"Let's get you breakfast." Her mum was off, taking Maxine with her and Jo stumbled around trying to find the food that she'd packed for Maxine, before concluding that she must have left it in the car last night. Jo found out her dressing gown, wishing that she'd unpacked last night but she'd been so tired and she hadn't wanted to disturb Maxine.

Her hair was everywhere and she was glad that there were no neighbours nearby to see her in this state. At least Maxine wouldn't have to wait long for her breakfast, she could get grumpy if her routine was disturbed. Although with her mum fussing over Maxine, that was probably going to happen anyway.

Jo wondered what time it would be where Dani was and if it was too early to call her after Maxine was fed. When she strolled back into the kitchen, she was surprised to see her dad sitting with Maxine.

"I told your mum to have a lie in, thought you could do with the peace."

"Thanks dad."

Maxine ate greedily, they were lucky that they'd never had to worry about trying to get her to eat, although she was stubborn when it came to nap time, and being told not to annoy Dandelion.

"Tell me about Dani."

Jo told her dad everything, how Dani made her feel, how she knew that they were meant to be, that it was like the elements themselves had dragged them together. Even though how they met was strange, they worked, and Maxine smiled and giggled every time Jo mentioned her mama, which made her heart swell with pride.

But then the conversation turned to Dani's family. "Dani's the only one in her family who's magical."

"It's going to be a lot of work to protect Maxine once she comes into her powers."

"How can I keep her safe?"

"You're going to need a coven."

*

Jo had been waiting all day for a little peace and quiet so that she could chat to Dani, they didn't have to bother with long distance calls, or even Skype, Jo had figured out a way to both astrally project at the same time so they could effectively video call without having to worry about the webcam being at the correct angle.

She was worried what Dani might say about starting a coven. With the exception of Marcia, none of her old coven members wanted anything to do with this life, and Jo respected that decision. There were a few others that she knew who weren't affiliated to a coven, as far as she could tell. But would they want to join a coven? It was something that wasn't really popular anymore and with the rise of Wicca as a movement, it was hard to tell who had actual magic powers, and who was just interested in spirituality. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she was going to need people who had magic in their blood if she was going to protect Maxine as she came into her powers.

Jo watched as Maxine slept, she couldn't imagine her growing up to be anything other than their little girl, smart like her mama and logical like her mum. They were both good people who used their magic responsibly, most of the time, and made sure that no-one was ever hurt by any of their spells.

They would make sure that she was raised right.

*

Dani was sitting around her parents' house wondering why she was back here, every time that she tried to bring up the subject of where she was living now, what she was doing with her life, she was ignored. She would have thought that after being out of contact for nearly nine months they would at least wonder where she had been and if she was okay, but they didn't seem to care.

Then after a couple of days, her mum kept dropping hints that there was someone who wanted to meet her. A friend of her grandmother's.

That didn't sit well with Dani. Her parents must have assumed that it was an old lover looking to reminisce about the love of his life with her granddaughter. But Dani knew better, all the people that her grandmother had dealings with were involved in dark magic, and from the sound of it, her grandmother had let slip that Dani was like her. They were no doubt expecting Dani to do the same things for them that her grandmother used to, and she wanted no part of it. Not only was it against her ethical code, but she knew that all the magic she did flowed through Maxine, that her powers, and Jo's were going to become Maxine's one day.

She would not put her daughter at risk of being just a pawn to make rich men richer.

Dani had politely declined all suggestions that she meet with the man, but then as she looked around, she realised that her family had a lot more possessions than they ever had before, and she was sure that it was a new car that her dad had picked her up from the airport in.

This man was so desperate to get close to her that he'd paid off her family. There was something wrong about the whole situation and she wasn't sure how she could explain it to them, they would never understand what her grandmother did, what she was.

As the sun started to set she saw a flash car pull up outside her parents' house. Her mum called up as there was a knock on the door. "Dani, we have company for dinner, so dress nicely."

Company? This wasn't good. Dani grabbed her things before opening the window, she wanted her escape to look plausible. With the rouse complete she teleported to be with her baby, glad to be out of this bizarre situation.

Dani landed with a thud in Jo's bedroom, her suitcase landing on its corner to make the maximum possible noise. But luckily Maxine just wriggled in her sleep before getting comfy again.

"What are you doing here?" Jo whispered, and Dani fell into her arms, tears streaming down her face as the stress of the last few days caught up with her.

"One of my grandmother's clients came looking for me, so I had to run. My family think that he's just an old lover of hers, but I know the real reason he wants to meet me." Dani sniffed as she tried to stop herself from crying and Jo held her as she kissed away her tears.

"I'll keep you safe," Jo said, stroking Dani's hair as she relaxed.

"It's not me that I'm worried about." Dani looked at Maxine, smiling away as she slept, blissfully unaware of all that was going on around her.

*

Jo's family hadn't batted an eyelid when Dani had told them that she'd teleported in to get away from her family, and her grandmother's legacy.

In fact, Dani couldn't believe how nice Jo's family were, and how understanding they were about the situation with Maxine. Although being part of a family that were all magical, who knew about these things, sure must have made it easier.

Maxine seemed thrilled to have her grandparents, aunts and uncle fussing over her for the week, she was getting more and more adventurous and she was starting to stand up using the furniture, it was only a matter of time before she was going to start walking.

She was playing with a toy car, crawling around the living room as she made car noises. It was nice to see her smiling and happy, and it was almost enough to make Dani forget all about her situation.

"Are you going to set up a new coven?" Jo's mum asked, and Dani stared at Jo, she hadn't mentioned it yet.

"Yes, it's the best way to keep Maxine safe." Jo looked at Dani, holding her hand. "And you."

"Can't your family keep us safe?" Dani had never seen such a loving family, and she knew that she was safe here with them.

"They can, but them and their covens are all so far away. We need people close to us, who we trust around Maxine and who can come help at short notice."

Dani looked at Jo with fear in her eyes, she hadn't thought about how time might be a factor, she was so used to jumping from place to place at the blink of an eye that she forgot other people had to spend ages making potions and chanting the right spells just to do what came naturally to her. "You're right."

Jo pulled Dani into a hug, kissing her on the cheek as she held her tight. Dani wanted to say that Jo was just overreacting, that it would all be fine but after what had happened at her parents' house, she would be able to relax if they had some sort of support network in place – and that meant having a coven.

Although Dani knew that this was also to protect Maxine, she had seen no sign that she would be drawn to dark magic. Maxine appeared to be like every other baby, happy with her toys and unhappy if her routine was disturbed, but there was no knowing what she would grow up to be.

"If you need a hand finding people in your area I could ask around?" Jo's mum said, but Dani wasn't sure that they wanted to be advertising the fact that they were looking to start a coven.

Dani furrowed her brow in confusion, she'd become so cut off from the magical world recently. Although even when she was back in Russia, she had realised that she was never part of the magical world there at all, at least she had Jo now, and one day soon, Maxine. "Who would we have in our coven? Everyone that I know, they're just audience members."

"I know the perfect people."


	6. Already?

It was May before they got round to actually having a coven meeting, Cali had been busy with work and Roberto had been touring with his magic act.

Jo had spent months convincing Marcia that it would be a good idea to be part of a coven again. And this time it was going to be a closed coven with a limited membership, unlike the old one where people seemed to come and go, leaving their problems for others, Jo, to sort out.

Five seemed like a nice number for the coven, it was more than enough to be able to combine powers to cast strong spells, although Jo was hoping that nothing like that would ever be needed. This was all just a precaution.

It was going to be mostly socialising and having 'aunts' and an 'uncle' that Maxine could trust. Marcia already spent a lot of time with her, and Cali came around quite frequently when she needed somewhere quiet to work and the people who lived in her block were being noisy. But Roberto had only met Maxine a few times, and only in passing.

Roberto was a natural with her, pulling cards out of thin air as Maxine clapped, wandering around to check his hand to make sure that the card had definitely disappeared. Maxine had started walking a few months ago, and now her default setting appeared to be running around the flat, chasing Dandelion at full speed. It had led to Jo padding all the corners of the furniture with carpet off cuts, although at the speed Maxine was going, maybe it was for the best.

"It seems a waste to use you magic for mere tricks," Marcia said to Roberto, and he just laughed.

"It's just sleight of hand, I don't use real magic in my tricks." Roberto took the card out of his sleeve before repeating the trick that he had just done for Maxine, making sure Marcia saw each step, and how he hid the card before Maxine could totter round to check the back of his hand. It would be easy to do on a stage, where the audience were much further away.

"Cute." Marcia smiled, and Roberto winked at her, his hair swishing around his face in a pleasing way. But their flirting was interrupted by Maxine trying to climb onto the sofa and getting huffy when she couldn't quite manage it.

After the second failed attempt, Roberto picked her up so that she could sit between them, he made her stuffed toy appear from nowhere and her eyes lit up, thrilled that her Uncle Roberto was putting on a show for her. And she wasn't the only one, Marcia watched in fascination as Roberto showed off his skills, admiring his talents.

Jo and Dani were standing in the kitchen watching from a distance, waiting for Cali to arrive from work, she'd been busy up to the end of the financial year, translating lots of financial documents for audits.

"Maybe it's time that we let her see us using our magic at home," Dani said, and Jo nodded, she had never told Dani about how Cali often used little bits of magic around Maxine, or how Jo would occasionally make the stars appear across the ceiling of Maxine's room. Now that Dani was sharing a bed with Jo, Maxine had a room all to herself. There had been a few sleepless nights at first, but she'd settled down quite quickly.

It had been a crazy few months for them, and it was becoming increasingly clear that the flat wasn't really going to be big enough for the three of them. Squeezing everyone in for Maxine's birthday party had been difficult, and not that many people had come over.

Keva and Steph had brought their little girl, Olivia, who they'd adopted recently, and it had been nice to see them all looking so happy. Olivia was just a few months younger than Maxine, so it was good that Maxine would have another friend to play with.

Jo stopped nodding, she wasn't sure how long she'd been lost in her thoughts. "Sounds like a good idea."

She put all of the mugs on a tray as Cali appeared at the door, peeking round to check that Maxine or Dandelion wasn't behind it, both of them had a knack for hiding behind doors and they didn't really understand the dangers. Jo was never sure how much of what Dani told her that Dandelion had said was put into a human context for Jo, and although she'd told Dandelion to watch out for the doors Jo had no idea if Dandelion actually knew what a door was.

The five of them sat waiting for someone to speak, and Jo realised that she was going to have to tell them all about Maxine. Why she wanted to have a coven around, that it wasn't just social, there was a real chance that one day they would be needed.

She was expecting more shock when she told them all. But Cali had a look on her face as if to say that she already knew, and Roberto just shrugged.

"I've seen stranger things," Roberto said, and Jo wondered what he had been involved in that had led him to see dark magic up close.

"So, no blood magic, and no dark magic." Jo glanced at Maxine who was oblivious to the severity of the conversation going on around her. Everyone nodded and Jo felt relief flood through her veins, this was going to work, Maxine would be kept safe, and they would have a support network just in case.

The no blood magic was purely because Jo didn't know enough about it to fix things if they went wrong, and Dani was wary of dabbling in anything that could have unintended consequences, they'd already got more than their fair share of having to clear up other peoples' messes.

"Do we have a deal?" Jo asked, reaching out so that they could all hold hands in a circle.

Once the circle was complete their magic surged through them all, allowing the others to see their hopes and fears, their hidden secrets.

Jo saw a glimpse of Roberto's demons, the dark forces that came for him as a little boy. Dani's fear when she fled from her family mixed with Cali's love of her parents. The image of her and Dani making love for the first time flashed up, gone as quickly as it appeared, morphing into other trysts that the group had experienced, or wanted to.

It felt like for a brief moment she could see into their souls, know everything about them, and then it was gone, vanishing into the depths of her mind as the energy faded.

They all sat staring at each other, aware of the bond that they now shared and its significance.

***

Another couple of months passed, the coven met on a regular basis, checking in with each other at least once a month, although they all saw a lot more of each other than that. They were all together again today, but for a very different reason.

It was Olivia's first birthday and they had come to support Keva and Steph, Maxine was running around their garden at an alarming speed, chasing after a ball that Marcia had kicked for her as Dani ran behind her, pretending to try and tackle her for the ball.

Roberto came strolling up to Marcia, he'd been volunteered to do the magic act for the children but Jo knew that he would have come just because Marcia asked him to. It seemed like he would do anything for her, and he found any excuse just to spend time with her.

"How long do you think before Marcia and Roberto are a thing?" Cali asked, smirk on her face, she knew that Jo and the rest of the coven had seen what they were both thinking, what they were both hoping would happen. The image of their naked bodies intertwined as they made love was etched into all their minds, along with the coven's other fears and hopes.

"Soon, I think she was waiting to make sure that there was something more than just lust, but it's clear to see that those two are madly in love with each other." Jo laughed, she wondered if she and Dani were as obvious when they first met, staring at each other with love in their eyes, always seeking out as much contact as possible.

"I don't blame her, he's a handsome guy." Cali raised an eyebrow. "Even if he likes play to magician."

"He's so good with children." Jo would never have thought that would be one of her turn-ons, but from the second that she saw Dani with Maxine, holding her tight, shielding her from the world, Jo knew that she'd never seen anything more adorable.

Cali nodded, watching Maxine and Olivia run about together. "I can't believe Dani's the same age as me and she's a mum."

"Do you want kids one day?" Jo flinched as she said the words, she hated being asked when she was going to have kids, they were never part of her plan, but now that she had Maxine she wouldn't change it for the world.

"No. It's fun to be the cool aunt." Cali watched Roberto do tricks for the little ones. "Or uncle."

It was strange being around the non-magical, with having a coven, and the shop, so much of her life revolved around the magical world. Keva and Steph were wonderful friends though, and it was nice to have some extra people on the babysitter list. And Maxine was going to have to learn how to act around 'the audience' so that no-one ever discovered her powers, but hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about that for a long while.

Jo didn't come into her powers until she was fifteen, and Dani was sixteen when she found out about hers, so Maxine should follow their lead, since it was their magic that she was soaking up. But that was no guarantee, there was no definite rules even if they were the biological parents, but being her adoptive parents meant that anything could happen.

She wondered what Maxine was going to be like when she grew up. It was both exciting and terrifying all at the same time, and she wondered if Dani felt the same.

*

Dandelion was asleep on the sofa, and Maxine was sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by crayons and Lego. Dani bent down to ask Dandelion if she was excited about having a full size garden, rather than just eating out of pots on the balcony.

_Will you grow carrots?_

_Of course._ Dani's face twitched as Maxine watched her with fascination.

_Do I get raisins?_

_Only if you help watch over Maxine while I pack._ Dani gave Dandelion a few strokes on the head, listening to her lightly grind her teeth as she got comfy. Dandelion loved being petted, she could sit for hours and be the centre of attention, but Dani had to pack. Jo had told her that she couldn't just transport all their stuff to the new house.

Luckily Roberto's van was big enough to move the bed, and the other big pieces of furniture but it was going to take several journeys. Their friends were all pitching in and Keva and Steph had offered to look after Maxine for the day while they did all the heavy lifting.

But Dani needed to make sure that everything was packed so that they were ready to go at the weekend. And Jo had been really busy at the shop, it seemed like there was a sudden surge in demand for all the magicals in the area needed help with spells that had got out of hand.

Dani went to pack more of her clothes, leaving out just enough that she had a few outfits to wear for the next couple of days, before working out how much of Maxine's clothes she could pack in advance, she was a messy one, although there was no harm in packing it now and unpacking again if she needed it.

She was amazed how much stuff she had acquired in the last eighteen months, some of it was for her course, but a lot of it were things that she had bought just because she could. The joint account was liberating for her, she was used to just living off the land, and before that she was supported by her parents. Both of which had their drawbacks, although not having things was preferable to being made to feel bad about the things that she had.

It didn't take her too long to pack and when she wandered back through to the living room she saw Maxine standing next to the sofa petting Dandelion.

"Bunny happy," Maxine said, smiling as she stroked her and Dandelion looked equally content.

Dani knelt down to their level before asking Dandelion, _Maxine can talk to you?_

_Yes. She's clever this one._

That was interesting. Had Maxine figured out how to speak Rabbit before she'd even managed to string together a whole sentence in English? Dandelion was right, she was clever, and that was a little worrying. If she came into her powers early, then she wouldn't be able to go to school until she learnt to control them, and hide them.

*

The weekend rolled around and Dani was so excited, she'd dropped Maxine off at Keva and Steph's and she was packing the kitchen stuff so that it could go to the new house first.

"Maxine can talk to Dandelion," Dani said, watching Jo for her reaction.

"I talk to Dandelion too." Jo was shaking the crumbs out of the toaster, before packing it into a box. "Oh, you mean the way you talk to Dandelion." Jo twitched her nose and she looked like she had a nervous tick.

Dani laughed as Jo scrunched her face up into strange positions. "Yes."

"She probably just copied you. How hard can it be?" Jo had noticed that Maxine had seemed to be a quick learner, and Dani was the same, she seemed to learn a new language every other month. Part of which was Cali's doing, and Dani loved a chance to use her languages.

"Without whiskers or big ears that you can move? Very, it's a whole series of gestures based around anatomical features that we don't even have."

"Ah."

"That's it? Our baby might be starting to get her powers and all you can say is 'ah'?" Dani stopped packing so that she could look at Jo, check that she wasn't just teasing, but her brow was furrowed and Jo was clearly lost in her thoughts. "What is it?"

"At the winter solstice, when I took Maxine home, one of her toys got thrown across the room from her crib. I thought it was just a fluke, assumed that she must have kicked it out during the night, but it seemed strange."

"Oh." Dani went in for a hug, and Jo held her tight. "What are we going to do if our toddler gets her powers now?"

The silence said it all, Jo had never heard of anyone getting their powers before high school age, eleven, ten at the earliest, but that was so rare.

They were disturbed by a knock at the door, Marcia and Roberto, fingers intertwined as they wandered in. Jo raised an eyebrow but nothing more was said, she'd already got all the gossip and knew that they had a thing going, but last time they'd talked Marcia had said it wasn't serious. But it looked serious now.

Roberto looked odd in ordinary clothes, ruffles and velvet were his standard wardrobe, but in jeans and a hoodie, complete with his glasses instead of his contact lenses, he looked like he would work in an office as the IT guy. And Marcia without her uniform was always a sight, but seeing her blush every time that Roberto batted his eyelashes at her was definitely something new.

The rest of the day was spent watching the glow of the newly in love, no cupboard was safe from Marcia and Roberto, and they were found with their lips locked on more than one occasion. But the use of Roberto's van definitely made things easier, and Marcia was never one to shirk when heavy things needed lifting, so Jo could tolerate all their little 'breaks'.

By the end of the day everything had been moved and Dandelion had made a valiant effort to mow the lawn by eating all of the grass. It was overgrown, taller than Dandelion but shorter than Maxine, although they didn't have to worry about losing Dandelion, she would always return, she knew that kibbles and raisins didn't grow in the wild.

"Where do you want these?" Marcia asked, flashing open the box as Jo blushed, there was an interesting assortment of things in the box, and Jo wondered how it ended up in the van. She had meant to bring it in the car, alone, so that none of their friends saw _them_.

"Bedroom?" Jo looked at her hands while blushing, and Marcia just laughed.

"I've seen stranger things, I am dating a magician after all." Marcia winked as she wandered off with the box and Jo's mind reeled at the thought of what Roberto would be like in the bedroom, given his predilection for ropes and chains.

The sofa was one of the last things to come out of the van, and the second it was situated in the living room, Cali flopped down on top of it, groaning in relief as she got comfy.

"There was some mention of pizza?" Cali shouted through to Jo as she put away all the crockery in the cupboard. She wanted the place to have some semblance of order when Dani returned with Maxine.

"Roberto's gone to fetch it," Marcia said as she brought in one last box from the van. It was quite big and Jo didn't recognise it, although she'd realised that they had a lot more stuff than she could remember. Moving had been a good excuse to send a lot of things to charity shops, and some of Maxine's old clothes that she'd grown out of had been handed down to Olivia, much to the relief of Keva and Steph. But that had still left a lot of things to be moved to the new house.

"What's that?" Jo asked as she heard tapping at the patio door, and she peered through to see Dandelion trying to work out how to open the door. Or get through the glass, Jo wasn't sure which made the most sense to her.

"A little housewarming present. It's more for Maxine than you, but I'm sure that you'll love it too." Marcia turned the box round to reveal a picture of a swing and a slide set. "It'll need setting in with concrete, but we can sort that tomorrow."

Jo rushed over to give Marcia a hug. "I'm sure that Maxine will love it. But I better hide the box for now, otherwise she'll want to play on it straight away."

Marcia laughed before taking the box through to the garage, there was nothing in there yet, since the car had always been parked on the street up until now. "She'll not find it in here."

There was the sound of a car pulling up into the driveway. It wasn't as rough sounding as Roberto's van, so it must be Dani, with Maxine in tow. Jo rushed to the front door to greet them, excited to see what Maxine thought of her new house.

"Did you have fun with Olivia?" Jo asked, and Maxine nodded, she looked around at the new place before burying her head against Dani's shoulder.

"Do you want to see your new room?" Dani asked her, and she peered up before nodding. There was a pout on her face and Jo wasn't sure why, she had been so excited when she visited the house, but now there were actually here she seemed unsure. Jo just hoped that she liked her bedroom, and that moving wouldn't disturb her routine too much.

Her new room was so much bigger than her old one, and it had the spare bed in it, which would become her bed once she was old enough to sleep outside the crib. Maxine seemed to cheer up a little when she saw the pictures of bunnies that were dotted around the room, along with all her favourite toys.

"Do you want to see Dandelion's new room?" Jo asked, delighting in how Maxine perked up just at the mention of Dandelion.

"Yes!" Maxine clapped her hands and fidgeted in Dani's arms, wriggling as though it would make Dani go faster on her way to the garden. The sun was just setting as Jo slid the patio door open, and Dandelion stood up on her hind legs so that she could see over the grass. "Bunny!"

Dani put Maxine down but she didn't let go of her hand, leading her to where Dandelion was munching her way through the grass as though it wouldn't grow back. Jo watched as Maxine twitched her nose, her lips pursed in concentration, and Dandelion moved her ears and whiskers in response.

There was no mistake, Maxine could speak to Dandelion, actually communicate with her, and Jo wasn't sure if she could deal with all the implications of that. She looked at Dani, her brow wrinkled before she realised that she was probably only scaring Maxine. Jo dropped her guards, the ones that stopped Dani reading her mind.

_What are we going to do? I've never heard of anyone getting their powers this young, and I don't know how we can keep her safe, make sure that she only uses her powers for good._

_We will manage, we have to, it's our responsibility to keep her safe. Even from herself._

Dani reached out to take Jo's hand, running her thumb along the side in the hope that it would calm her. Maxine was still chatting away with Dandelion, and Jo had no idea what could be so fascinating, although knowing both of them the conversation was probably about food, or how soft and fuzzy Dandelion's new coat was. She loved being complimented on her coat, even though she seemed to shed a new one every other month.

"Pizza's here." Roberto had stuck his head round the patio door and Maxine ran towards him as fast as her little legs would carry her.

"Uncle Teto!" Maxine squealed in delight, happy to see her uncle. He ducked down to pick her up and she giggled as he swirled her around.

"Marcia really got lucky with her _magician_ ," Dani whispered, grin on her face as Jo tried to hide her smile with her hand.

"And I got really lucky with you." Jo leant in for a kiss, nudging Dani with her shoulder as they wandered inside, the sun lighting up the sky with beautiful red and oranges.

Maxine was granted a later bedtime, just this once, so that she could sit and eat ice cream while the rest of them ate pizza. She fell asleep on her Auntie Cali's lap, and Jo was able to carry her to bed without her waking up. After all the worrying about Maxine not settling, Maxine went to sleep without any fuss.

"What's wrong?" Marcia asked, "You've been stressed all day. And don't tell me that it's moving house, I know you better than that."

Jo glanced at Dani, they were going to have to tell the coven all about it at some point. "Maxine, we think she's getting her powers."

Cali gasped, before shaking her head. "She's so young? Are you sure?"

"No, but she can talk, really talk, to Dandelion." Jo knew it didn't sound like a lot, but given how complicated it was, maybe it was the magic in her that allowed her to do it?

"Some children are just good with languages, with patterns." Roberto flicked his hair over his shoulder, and Marcia glared at him, before grimacing in apology. "My cousin used to talk to dogs as a kid, well, he still does. But his powers didn't show until he was fourteen."

Jo felt Dani relax, but she wasn't convinced. "Maxine threw one of her toys across the room from her crib."

"You've seen her move, she's a wriggler." Marcia shrugged and Jo wished that she could be as calm about it.

Dani was wringing the blood out of Jo's hand and the worry was written all over her face. "You're probably right. I just worry about her, with what she is."

Jo had scoured all of the books she had about dark magic, and the serious consequences of taking a first-born as payment for services, effectively taking a life in return for something nefarious. But there was no mention as to what would happen if that soul was promised to two people, did it cancel out? Reduce the chances that Maxine would be susceptible to evil? Or did it increase those chances?

No-one had any answers, and until Jo knew more about it she was going to keep worrying.

Marcia looked at Roberto, they were having their own unspoken conversation. Jo didn't know if it was based on facial gestures or telepathy but from the wrinkles on their brows, they were definitely talking about something deep.

"We can see the future," Marcia said, "Together we get glimpses of it, but it might be easier with the rest of the coven."

Marcia hopped off Roberto's lap, giving him a quick kiss before sitting on the coffee table so that they formed a rough circle.

"Focus on Maxine, and hopefully it will show us what is in store for her."

Everyone nodded and Jo bit her lip. "No. Whatever's in store for her, we have to wait for it to unfold. What if we see that she turns to dark magic, and we treat her differently, but then that's what sets her on that path?" Jo shook her head, she didn't want to cause any more problems for Maxine. "We just have to love her and care for her. And whatever happens, we will deal with it then. Not before."

"You know that we'll be there for you, and Maxine, no matter what happens. That's the deal, that's why we have the coven." Cali rested her hand on Jo's knee, joining in the hug as Dani reached round to hold them both tight.

"She's going to be a good witch, I can feel it," Roberto said, "She's going to be a good witch because she has nothing but love and kindness surrounding her."

Marcia put her hand out to drag Roberto closer to her. Jo knew that he was right, she had seen his past, and he had turned out to be a good witch, with a kind soul. Maxine was going to be fine because she not only had two mums that were good witches, but because she had nothing but loving family surrounding her, who would always be there for her.


	7. First Term of School

"It's time for you to take off this charm." Jo held her hand out and Dani gave her the bracelet. She knew that this day would come, when Maxine was too old to have her mama watching over her all the time, but she couldn't believe that it was already here.

Jo placed the charm in a little box, stowing it away at the back of her underwear drawer.

"Can't I keep it just for her first day?" Dani looked at her with big eyes, and Jo was sure that she was part rabbit at times like this, she was a natural at begging.

"You know what will be better than watching her all day at school?" Jo looked at Dani pouting, shaking her head. "Maxine coming home and telling you all about her day. All her new friends and all the amazing things that she got up to"

Jo gave Dani a big hug, holding her tight. She was glad that Maxine was starting school, and that Olivia was going to be in the same class as her, so at least she would have a friend, although there were probably others from her play group that would end up at the same school too.

There had been no sign that Maxine's powers were starting to develop, and they were hoping that she wouldn't tell too many people that she could talk to rabbits, although it would all be dismissed as just the overactive imagination of a young child.

It was perfect timing, Dani had graduated in May but was holding off looking for work until Maxine was at school. She had applied for a job at the local college, they were looking for a librarian and IT assistant, with flexible working hours. Jo knew that they could make it work, and with Keva and Steph's little one going to the same school, they could share the school runs, and the extra care between the four of them.

"I'm just worried that she'll tell them something, and they'll figure out that she's magical."

"They'll just think that she means her Uncle Roberto," Jo said, and when she saw Dani's eyes go wide she added, "His day job."

All the kids at Maxine's play group had seen Roberto's magic act at some point and it would explain away little things. They'd never let her see anything bigger, she couldn't until she was old enough to understand why she couldn't tell anyone. And considering how much of a talker she was, that wasn't going to be any time soon.

"You're right. I just worry about her." Dani snuggled in tight, taking a deep breath before stretching out on the bed, laying back against the pillows.

"You know that once she's at school, it'll mean more time alone for us." Jo grinned before ducking down for a kiss, wrapping Dani up in her arms and showing just what they could get up to without having to worry about Maxine walking in on them.

*

Dani had put on a brave face for Maxine's first day at school, she was walking her there along with Olivia, and Keva. The girls were so excited but there was a look of worry plastered over their parents' faces.

When they got to the school gate Dani gave Maxine a big hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, mama." Maxine wriggled free, grabbing Olivia's hand as they darted off towards their friends from play group. Not even looking back at her mama.

"They're going to be fine," Keva said, but Dani could hear the worry in her voice. "Let's go get a coffee, and some cake."

Dani wandered back to Keva's place, resisting the urge to go home and find the charm, instead she found herself playing with her bracelet, listening to her favourite music on repeat as Keva made the coffee.

She texted Marcia to see if she was free, Dani felt at a loss now that she didn't have Maxine to look after, but once Marcia and Roberto showed up, hair still tousled from a little early morning love making, Dani started to let her worries drift away.

It was strange having Keva around, having to watch what they said, although since the topic of conversation was mainly about children it wasn't too difficult.

"We're on the waiting list to adopt another," Keva said, and everyone congratulated her, "But don't tell Olivia just yet, we're waiting until we know to talk to her about it."

"I'm sure she'll love having a little sister or brother," Dani said, and she noticed Marcia holding Roberto's hand tighter.

"Still not joining the ranks of parenthood yet?" Keva asked Marcia and Roberto, and they both shook their heads with such force that their hair whipped around their head.

"Hell no," Marcia said, before waving her hands as way of apology. "It's just not for us."

Roberto ran his fingers through his hair and Dani noticed the streaks of grey that were starting to appear, although she was sure that it added to his mystique as a magician, made him look even more eccentric, if that was possible.

"I've been offered a job in Las Vegas, so I'm going to be away for a few months." Roberto snuggled into Marcia, he was comfy sitting on her lap. That was their thing, even if there were enough seats, they would sit on each other's lap. Dani had never worked out the pattern of who got to sit on whose lap at any given time, and it often alternated even during the course of one evening, although maybe it was to do with how long they could last before pins and needles became an issue.

"I'll miss you," Dani said, and she noticed the funny look from Keva, she would never know how close they all were. To Keva, Roberto was just Marcia's boyfriend, they were civil, friends even, but they would never be as close as coven members were.

Dani felt like her life was flashing before her eyes some days, in her mind she was still a naïve twenty-one year old who thought that she would be able to raise a child solely because it was the right thing to do. Although she had managed it, and so much more than she ever thought she was capable of.

"I'll miss you more," Marcia said, rubbing her nose against Roberto's and drawing all the attention away. It was going to be strange with Roberto gone for six months, but they would manage. They had never been apart for more than a week or so, and that was when they first started dating and had to go home to their families, now they just alternated between them.

Marcia couldn't believe that they had been together more than four years, and she teased Jo endlessly about the fact that she was hiding him away, but in reality, if Jo had told her that she knew a cute _magician_ , Marcia wouldn't have gone on a date with him.

Roberto was going to be gone before Samhain, _Halloween_ , so they wouldn't be able to celebrate it together, although Keva was already planning for the children to have a party. Dani wasn't sure how she felt about that, although she was going to have to get used to these things taking precedent, since Maxine was going to be at school during the winter solstice.

Everything was changing and Dani felt a little lost, but she still had Jo by her side, and she knew that would get her through. At least worrying about these changes stopped her worrying about Maxine.

"I should go, get the house tidy before it's time to pick up Maxine." Dani grabbed her jacket and went to leave, and Marcia and Roberto made their excuses. From the way they were looking at each other Dani was sure they were going home to a little afternoon delight.

Whereas she was going home to job applications and putting the laundry out to dry, if the weather cooperated with her. After all these years living in Britain she'd learned to roll with it and not give into the temptation to meddle with the weather, like all magic, there were consequences to even the simplest of spells.

With the house tidy, Dani made herself a cup of coffee, hunting around for the chocolate biscuits that she had stashed away so that Maxine couldn't find them, or Jo.

Dandelion wandered through, she had obviously heard the sound of cupboard doors and come in through the rabbit flap in the back door.

_Have you seen my chocolate biscuits?_ Dani looked at Dandelion who shook her ears as though she was swotting flies away with them.

_They're not for rabbits. Remember?_

_When has that ever stopped you?_ Dani remembered the vet bills after she'd eaten cheese that she found on the floor.

_Sorry, Dani. I haven't seen your biscuits. Ask Maxine._

Dani wondered how hyper Maxine would be if she'd eaten a whole packet of chocolate biscuits, but she didn't grudge her having them, especially if it helped her through her first day at school.

She put a couple of sugars in her coffee, just to give herself a little boost while she waited for the washing machine to do its thing, and so that she could procrastinate on filling in another job application that she wasn't going to hear back from.

In the end she was sitting in her bedroom, looking at the small box that Jo had hidden in her underwear drawer, wondering what harm it would do to check on Maxine. But she knew Jo was right, that it would be lovely to hear their little girl tell them all about her first day at school.

She hid the box under the chest of drawers, she would have to move the furniture if she wanted to get it back. Her little girl wasn't so little anymore and she deserved her privacy, it was the only way that they could build trust, and they were going to need that with their family. One day she and Jo were going to have to tell Maxine about her powers, and hope not only that she believed them, but that Maxine trusted them enough to help her develop them.

By the time three o'clock crawled round, Dani was glad for the fresh air, the sun was shining and she left Dandelion guarding the washing, not that there was anything she could do if it rained.

Maxine told her all about her day on the way home, showing her the picture that she'd drawn and telling Dani all about the new people that she'd met. It was so lovely to hear her so excited, and Dani was so proud of her.

Once they were home Maxine ran into the garden, despite Dani's protests that she should change out of her school uniform, and went over to Dandelion to tell her all about her day. Lying out on the grass in the sun, kicking her legs as she showed Dandelion her artwork and the rabbit nodded thoughtfully, admiring her picture with a critical eye.

At dinner Maxine told Jo all about her day with every bit as much enthusiasm that she had told Dani, and Dandelion.

"… And we're going to start learning the recorder." Maxine shoved potatoes in her mouth as she talked and it took every bit of self-control not to laugh at her. "Do you play any instruments mummy?"

"No, so you'll be the only musician in the house." Jo smiled as Maxine's eyes lit up, she was already competitive, and Jo wondered where they would get a recorder from.

After Maxine went to bed, and they had a little time to themselves, Jo and Dani curled up on the sofa, watching a movie as Dandelion lay out in front of the tv.

"Are you feeling better about our little rabbit going to school?" Jo asked, holding Dani's hand tight.

Dani nodded, she finally felt calm for the first time all day. "Definitely."

***

Maxine settled into her new routine quickly and she was enjoying school. Dani was there to drop her off each morning and pick her up every night. And even though the weather had got a little worse over the last few weeks, they were still walking to school. Dani was glad for the fresh air and a couple of times a week Olivia came to stay with them after school until Keva or Steph was able to pick her up.

Then, Dani got a new job, at the local college library, but there was a catch. Even though it was part time, it was three full days out of six, and it changed as to which of the three days that she worked. But Jo had Cali to look after the shop on the afternoons that Dani was working, and there was always Keva and Steph, and Marcia and Roberto as emergency back-up.

But luckily it coincided with Roberto being between jobs, he'd finished his shows here, and he was preparing to go over to Las Vegas for six months. Marcia was going to miss him, but she wasn't the only one, a coven separated was always going to be weaker but they would manage. For Marcia's sake if nothing else.

Dani had dropped Maxine off at school that morning, but she was working from ten until six, which meant that her Uncle Roberto was going to have to pick her up. Marcia and Keva were on shift, Steph's office job very rarely let her leave early and Jo and Cali were busy at the shop with Samhain approaching.

Maxine was thrilled at the news and Dani gave her a hug before saying, "Be good for your Uncle Roberto okay?"

"I will," Maxine said, and she already had the cheekiest grin on her face, she loved spending time with Roberto and all the magic tricks that he did for her, although she kept saying that she knew how he did them.

Maxine ran off at speed, heading towards her friends, not even glancing back to say goodbye to her mama. Dani rushed to the college, it wasn't far from the school and she was trying not to use the car unless it was absolutely necessary.

*

"Uncle Roberto!" Maxine ran out of school, her hands up so that she could leap into Roberto's arms, Olivia trailing behind her.

"Hello sweetie." Roberto held Maxine tight before taking Olivia's hand. "How are you doing, Olivia?"

"Fine." Olivia didn't sound happy and Maxine was busy trying to tell Roberto all about her day.

"Where's rabbit?" Roberto asked, and Maxine pouted. Rabbit went everywhere with her, the now tatty stuffed toy that she'd had since birth, known only as rabbit.

"Home." Maxine didn't look happy about it, but Roberto was relieved. At least this way it meant that he could get them both home, and fed, which would hopefully clear up a lot of the grumpy.

Roberto managed to make warm cookies appear out of the oven and Maxine was thrilled, but Olivia was still looking unhappy, and Roberto was starting to worry about her.

"Olivia sweetie? What's wrong?" Roberto watched as Olivia nibbled at her cookie, sipping her milk as she tried not to look at him. "Did something happen at school today?"

He looked at Maxine, hoping that she would tell him what had been going on, but she just kept munching the cookies.

There was silence, and Roberto let it go, maybe they were tired. But then Maxine said, "Dandelion would like these biscuits."

"You can't talk to rabbits!" Olivia shrieked and Roberto jumped, rushing over to the kitchen table where they were sitting.

"Yes I can!" Maxine screamed, and Roberto remembered how loud she could get as a baby, but now she had bigger lungs, he was sure that all the neighbours could hear her.

"You're a liar!"

"No I'm not!

Roberto tried to get them to use their indoor voices but it wasn't working and in the end he had to resort to, "If you don't settle down I'll have to call your mum."

"Fine! I don't want to be friends with liars!" Olivia stomped off to the living room, and Roberto left her in there to cool off. Maxine was pouting, her brow furrowed as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm not a liar. I'm a good girl." Maxine looked so upset, and Roberto picked her up so that she could cuddle in, pulling on his hair as she always did. At least she'd stopped trying to steal his glasses, which had been a little bit of an issue considering how short sighted he was, but she'd grown out of it now.

"I know you're not a liar sweetie. You're my good girl and you only tell the truth."

Maxine nodded and Roberto didn't know what to do, in the end he called Keva, and there was no answer, so he called Steph and told her that the girls had fallen out.

Steph didn't look impressed when she'd shown up to collect Olivia, although it wasn't that much earlier than she would usually pick her up. There were a lot of unimpressed glances at Roberto, and something muttered about 'this was what she got for trusting him with kids'. Roberto was kind of glad that he probably wouldn't be asked to look after Olivia again for a while.

After Olivia was gone Maxine calmed down and they played video games until Jo came to collect Maxine.

"How was she?" Jo asked, accepting the cup of tea with a smile on her face, the electronic music of the video game buzzing away in the background.

"Okay." Roberto looked down at the now cold cookies. "But her and Olivia had a little falling out."

Jo's eyes went wide and Roberto held up his hands. "What did they fall out over?"

"Olivia called Maxine a liar for saying that she could talk to rabbits. Maxine said she wasn't a liar." Roberto shook his head, and Jo felt the same way, they both knew that Maxine was telling the truth, but she was getting a little too old to still be telling people that she could speak to rabbits.

"Dani and I will sort something out." Jo reached out a hand to rest on top of Roberto's. "Thanks for looking out for her."

"I swore that I would protect her, even from other kids." Roberto laughed and Jo felt herself relax, hopefully it would all be forgotten about after the weekend.

"I should take her home, she should be exhausted now." Jo wandered through to the living room, waiting for Maxine to grab her school bag and all her things. "Don't forget rabbit."

"Got her," Maxine said as she grabbed her, holding her tight before taking her mum's hand.

"Say bye to your Uncle Roberto," Jo said to Maxine, and Maxine waved goodbye.

"Good night sweetie." Roberto's smile crinkled his face and Jo couldn't believe how lucky she was to have such good people helping her and Dani look after Maxine.

*

Jo had left early to go and pick up Maxine, and Cali was doing a little work for her other job when a customer walked in. She asked if she could help but he said that he was just browsing, and Cali went back to translating a children's book.

He was just looking at some of the magic kits, the sort that people bought for their children, when another man strode in, and Cali could sense the magic in him.

"Good afternoon, my dear," he said. His clothes were fairly ordinary but once he got closer to the counter, Cali could see that they were designer clothes, must have cost a fortune, and it sent a shiver down her spine. Greed and witchcraft didn't mix.

"Hi, how can I help you?" Cali asked, her voice neutral. She took in the well-trimmed hair and vast amount of gold jewellery

"I'm looking for a spell." The man looked serious but there was still another customer in the shop, one that couldn't know about the other things that they sold here at the shop.

Cali laughed. "I think you've got the wrong place." But she caught the man's eye, and nodded to the side room. The other customer left not long after, clearly not finding what he was looking for, and Cali darted to the side room. "I didn't think you'd want the audience listening in."

"That's quite a skill, being able to spot other magicals. I'm Helmut." He put out a hand to shake Cali's and she felt the crackle of static electricity. "Sorry, my dear."

Cali felt her skin crawl every time that he said 'my dear' but she knew that the quickest way to get rid of him was to serve him. "How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for something that can help me shapeshift." He leant on the potions bench and the way he tapped his fingers on the desk reminded Cali of a teacher that she used to have, who always did that just before he was going to start screaming at the class. But Helmut was still smiling, so it must just be nervous reflex.

"What kind of animal do you want to shift into?" Cali asked, they had most of the common animals on standby, but there was something about his grin that made her sure that they wouldn't have what he was looking for in stock.

"The most dangerous animal of all." He laughed at his own joke before saying, "Man."

Cali had to fight to keep the surprise off her face. "That's blood magic."

"I know, my dear." His face had a sinister look now and the way his face crinkled when he smiled made him look like Satan himself had sent him.

"I'm sorry, we don't do that here." Cali felt into her pocket, making sure she had the rune stone that would act as a shield with only a single word uttered.

"I understand. Do you know anyone who would be able to help me?" Helmut's smile was at odds with his soft voice, and his reasonable manner.

"I don't, we only deal with light magic here. Owner's rules." Cali smiled, she was hoping that this would be the end of the conversation.

Helmut took a card out of his pocket and left it on the potion bench. "If you could tell the owner that I'd be happy to pay whatever they deem reasonable for this spell."

"I'll pass that on. It'll be tomorrow before she's back." Cali still had one hand in her pocket, and she reached out for the card with the other hand before adding it to the pile of notes with orders on it. She knew Jo's rules; no blood magic, no dark magic. There was no way that she would take this order, no matter how much money Helmut was offering. But he didn't need to know that, she'd get rid of his card after he left.

"I await her call. Thank you for your time, my dear." Helmut nodded before seeing himself out, and when Cali heard the little bell for the door, signalling that he had exited, she let out a breath that she didn't even realise that she was holding. She was just relieved that he was gone.


	8. Holiday

"Are you excited to go on holiday?" Dani asked, and Maxine cheered. She was eating her carrot sticks and every other one was being fed to Dandelion, who was standing up against Maxine's chair trying to get more than her fair share.

"Is Dandelion coming with us?" Maxine asked as yet another carrot stick made its way into Dandelion's mouth.

"No, she's going on holiday to the forest." Dani watched as Maxine talked to Dandelion but she couldn't work out what they were saying from this angle.

"She says I have to go on holiday with the humans, and she's going on holiday with her rabbit friends."

Dani flinched when she heard the word 'humans', not people, or even family, but _humans_. She was going to have to spend more time with her friends from school, and Olivia, even though they only spent time together when their parents were in the same room.

Hopefully they would get on well enough for Maxine to enjoy her first holiday outside Britain. At least she had all of her aunts and uncles around her, although that wasn't helping with the whole 'us and them' divide.

That evening when Maxine was in bed, Jo was lying next to Dani, waiting for her to tell her what was on her mind.

"Are you the mind reader now?" Dani pouted, and she was sure she was just worrying about nothing, but at the same time she just wanted Maxine to grow up to be tolerant, have a nice life, friends that were human, as well as rabbit. She just didn't want Maxine to end up like her, living alone in a cave with only rabbits for friends, not that there was anything wrong with rabbits, they were quite open-minded considering the fact that they were generally viewed as fuzzy idiots by most, but she wanted Maxine to have what she had – friends and family who loved her.

"These wrinkles say it all." Jo ran her hand over Dani's forehead before ducking in for a kiss, there seemed to be more and more wisps of grey through her dark hair, and it suited her, made her look like a wise old witch.

"Maxine just doesn't seem to be fitting in with 'audience members' but she's going to have to learn, there's so few of us and so many of them."

"I know, and I think this holiday will do her good. Get her away from Dandelion." Jo loved Dandelion, the furry food disposal that encouraged Maxine to eat her vegetables like a good little rabbit, but Maxine was a human being, and she was going to have to learn how to act like one.

"I hope so."

"Me too."

*

The flight wasn't too bad and Maxine thankfully slept for most of it after hearing her favourite story, about a rabbit. When Jo thought about how many of Maxine's toys and books revolved around rabbits she started to worry, but it was common for children to be obsessed with one thing, just as long as they could make sure that she wasn't telling everyone that she could talk to rabbits.

Once they landed, Roberto went to get the hire car that they had ordered, although it was practically a minibus considering the number of them, and they'd checked that they had two booster seats for Maxine and Olivia. Jo was glad that Keva and Steph hadn't got the all clear on adopting another child, which sounded awful when she thought about it, but she wasn't sure that a new child trying to settle in would enjoy all this chaos.

They were staying at a cabin that belonged to Roberto's family, October was considered too cold for them to use it, but with the way the school holidays had worked out, it was perfect for them. As Roberto drove up to it, Jo could see that it was a good size, there would be more than enough space for them, and there was lots of grass and trees surrounding it, so the kids would have plenty of space to play.

And that was when Jo saw who else was going to be staying in the area. Rabbits. Hundreds and hundreds of rabbits.

She looked over at Dani and saw that her eyes were wide, as Maxine slept soundly next to her, nose twitching as though she was talking to Dandelion. The last thing that she needed was to see all the rabbits, hopefully the noise of humans would keep them all at bay for the five days that they were here.

"What do you think guys?" Roberto said, and the cheering woke Maxine up, but she looked so happy to see the trees and the grass.

"Is this the forest that Dandelion came to?" Maxine asked, and Jo had to fight to keep her face neutral.

"No sweetie, she's in a forest far away, having fun with her friends. Just like you're going to have with your friends here."

"I don't have any friends." Maxine folded her arms as she made a huffy sound, the same sound that Dandelion made when she was displeased.

"You're not friends with me anymore?" Will said, and he tried to pout without laughing and failed.

Will reached over to tickle her and she burst out laughing, squirming in her seat as she squealed in laughter. The minibus came to a halt with a jerking motion and Dani had to hold Maxine tight to make sure that she didn't go flying but she thought that it was all part of the tickle attack and carried on laughing.

"How about we go and find the best room before all the others take them?" Cali said, and Maxine nodded before rushing out of the bus, Cali running behind her as she headed for the cabin.

"Thanks bro," Jo said, and Will nodded, he didn't even have to ask to see that they were worried about Maxine, but hopefully it was just a phase. Hopefully.

Cali had led Maxine to their room, the one that had a little recessed bit with a single bed for Maxine so that she wasn't too far away from them. "I'm just next door, and your Auntie Marcia and Uncle Roberto are on the other side."

Maxine smiled and gave Cali a big hug, she whispered something to Cali before she left, and from the look on Cali's face it was something worrying. She shot Jo a look as she was leaving, and Jo made her excuses as Dani said to Maxine, "Are you going to unpack?"

There was the sound of cupboard doors creaking and drawers grating as they were pulled out when Jo wandered along the hall to Cali's room.

"What did Maxine say?"

"That she didn't want Olivia and her mums to come with us on holiday." Cali looked down at her hands and Jo sat down on the end of the bed, patting the bit next to her so that Cali would come and sit.

"So she knows that Will has magic in his blood?" Jo had never mentioned it, or seen any of her family use their powers around Maxine, so was she just picking up on the different way that her mums treated people? Dani and she never meant to treat Keva and Steph differently, but it was difficult having to watch what they said around people who didn't know about magic, and maybe that was what Maxine had worked out. Maxine did seem to have a gift for seeing patterns, which was how she'd managed to work out how to speak Rabbit so quickly.

"It seems that way." Cali put her arm around Jo. "Don't let it ruin the holiday, maybe this is what she needs, time where she has to be with Olivia, interact with audience members."

"Thanks, Cali." Jo gave her a hug before wandering back through to find Maxine napping on their bed, curled into her mama, holding her stuffed rabbit close to her.

*

That evening they had all eaten dinner together like one big happy family and Jo felt her blood pressure returning to something approaching normal. They played board games and made sure that the little ones won, even if that meant tantrums from some of the older ones.

Roberto and Marcia had gone shopping in the afternoon, while the rest were napping or relaxing, and made sure that they had enough supplies for the rest of the holiday, so that they could spend as much time enjoying their escape from the city as possible.

It was all shaping up to be a nice holiday and by the time that Jo finally got to sleep, Maxine curled between her and Dani, she was sure that it was all going to be relaxing. Surrounded by nature and good friends, what could go wrong?

Keeping Maxine away from the rabbits while enjoying all the fresh air had been impossible, and she was going around telling everyone what they were saying.

"These are Spanish rabbits, why don't they speak Spanish?" Steph asked and Jo had to put her hand across Dani to stop her lunging for Steph.

"Because they speak Rabbit," Maxine said, as though it was the most logical thing in the world and Roberto sniggered.

Marcia and Roberto put their hands out for Maxine so that they could swing her as they walked. The grin on her face as she looked back at Steph was enough to show Dani that she could handle herself. But it wasn't helping with getting Maxine to integrate.

Olivia wanted her mums to do the same and it turned into a competition on the way back to the cabin, Maxine and Olivia both screaming to go faster until Marcia and Roberto were holding Maxine up, carrying her as they ran back to the cabin while the rabbits followed.

There were hundreds of rabbits assembled as Maxine lay out on the grass, she didn't notice Dani glancing at Jo.

"Go and help Roberto with lunch and I'll watch over her," Dani said, watching as Keva and Steph tried to put more sunscreen on Olivia's pale skin, her red hair and freckles meant that she was at the mercy of the sun's harsh light.

Maxine was deep in conversation with a young rabbit, nose twitching and eyebrows wiggling as they chatted away, but it was all disturbed as Olivia ran over, scaring the rabbits and making them sprint away, white tails flashing as they warned the other rabbits about the danger.

"If you can talk to them, you can make them come back," Olivia said, her arms folded as her hair shone like fire in the sunlight.

"They don't want to come near you." Maxine glared at Olivia, her pouty lips compressed in a line, and she looked like Jo when she was trying to be nice, even when she just wanted to punch people. "They're scared that you'll hurt them. Humans like to hurt animals."

"I don't hurt animals!" Olivia screamed and Dani was sprinting across from the patio table and chairs where she was sat. Everyone else seemed to have disappeared before lunch.

Dani was close when she heard Maxine yell, "You eat them!"

"Maxine, it's not your place to judge how others live." Dani went in to take her hand but she ran towards the forest, the rabbits gathering around her as they tried to protect one of their own. "Maxine, come back here!"

Maxine looked round, just as the ground started to get uneven, and she tripped over, howling in pain as the tears streamed down her face. Dani rushed over to her, holding Maxine tight as she got her to sit up, and that was when she saw how badly that she had skinned her knee.

Dani reached into her pockets for the wet wipes, but she knew that they were going to sting as she cleaned Maxine's cut. There were more tears and just when Dani could bear no more, a rabbit ran up to sit by Maxine, rubbing its head against her hand. It didn't stop the tears, but it quietened her screams, not wanting to upset the little ball of fluff that had come to her aid.

Jo came running out, Olivia must have told them what happened, and she carried Maxine inside, kissing her forehead as she walked back up to the cabin.

The atmosphere was stilted, and the room was divided. Jo knew that they shouldn't have let it get to this point, but when she thought about all the people in her life, they all had magic in their blood. It seemed that Maxine was just following their example.

*

The rest of the holiday was awkward, which considering that Marcia and Keva were going to have to go back to work together – that was going to mean a few long shifts before everything settled down again.

At least the journey home wasn't too long, being trapped together on a plane wasn't going to help.

It seemed like no matter what they did, Maxine and Olivia weren't meant to be friends. But considering she didn't know any other children her age from magical families, it was far too easy to read into it that Maxine wasn't getting along with Olivia just because she didn't understand.

Although was this her just excusing Maxine's behaviour? Dani groaned internally, she wasn't sure what to do to support Maxine, and that terrified her.

***

After the holiday Maxine settled back into her routine, and after a couple of weeks, she asked if her friend, Kirsten, could come over one day after school.

"I'll need to call her parents to make sure that they're okay with it." Dani was making sandwiches for her and Maxine to take for lunch, Jo always took left over food that she reheated in the microwave at the shop.

Maxine took out a scrap of paper with Kirsten's parents' number scrawled on it, Maxine definitely was a clever one, although maybe she'd seen other children do the same thing at school.

"I'll call them tomorrow, okay?" Dani brushed a strand of hair out of Maxine's face, no matter how they tied her hair there was always a few strands that escaped her pleat. Jo had French braided it once, but it had taken so long to do and Maxine hadn't been impressed about that, so Jo had never tried again.

"Thanks, mama." Maxine put her lunch into her school bag before feeding Dandelion a couple of raisins which she ate like she'd never been fed, and like she hadn't had her kibbles only a few minutes earlier.

Tonight was going to be hard for them all, Roberto was leaving early tomorrow morning for Las Vegas, and he wasn't going to be back for at least six months. Marcia had already arranged her holidays so that she could visit him for the winter solstice, which was fine by her colleagues who all wanted christmas and new year off.

Maxine examined the sandwich carefully as Dani put in into a tub, along with her fruit and the one tiny chocolate bar that she was allowed. Although Dani was sure that she'd found a way to get them from on top of the cupboards, since they went through a lot more than one a day, but she wasn't sure how Maxine could reach, even with a chair, which meant it was probably Jo pretending that she was eating healthy when actually she was sneaking sweet treats.

No matter how much Dani told Jo that she looked fine, and that it was just her age catching up with her, Jo had refused to listen and had decided to diet. Dani didn't like it, not least because Jo was unhappy about it, but because she wasn't sure that it sent the right message to Maxine. Jo was nowhere near obese or having to worry about health issues because of her weight, so Maxine should see that a few extra pounds didn't make a difference and that there was no pressure to be super thin, although Dani was no help on that front, tall and lanky ran in her family and she was no exception.

The walk to school was nice, but Maxine asked a lot of questions about when she would Roberto again, and Dani wasn't sure how she was going to cope if her uncle was gone for a while. Hopefully they could manage something with the time difference, although he was going to be busy, two shows every night and three on a Saturday, he wasn't going to have a lot of free time.

"Are you going to pick me up today?" Maxine asked as she waved over to Kirsten, she was a little bit smaller than Maxine, with long dark hair and a bunny rabbit on her coat. That was why they were friends, Maxine loved rabbits, and magic, so liking either of those things would instantly have made Maxine and her friends.

"No, your Uncle Roberto is going to pick you up." Maxine cheered, giving her mum a hug before dashing off to chat to Kirsten, she looked so happy and Dani felt much better about everything. She'd been worrying about Maxine not having many friends, but at least she had one, and that was a good start.

*

Jo came home to the sound of a full house, Roberto's voice booming as he put on his stage voice and Maxine's squeals of delight at his tricks. Cali ran in to see everyone and Jo took a moment to gather herself. This was her coven, her family, and they were going to be split up for a while, it was going to be a difficult time, but if Marcia could handle it, so could the rest of them. It was going to be hardest on Maxine, but thankfully they'd managed to get a lot of notice, and she'd spent a lot of time with him lately, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock to her.

Jo had already stocked up a bag of tricks for emergencies if Maxine was missing her uncle, but she was hoping that she wouldn't have to use them.

"We ordered pizza, it should be here in half an hour," Dani said, and Maxine cheered some more.

Maxine was telling everyone all about Kirsten, and her two rabbits that she was going to get to meet sometime in the future. Jo was hoping that Kirsten's parents would just think that Maxine had an overactive imagination when she told them that she could talk to rabbits, although they were possibly more likely to understand the rabbit obsession than some parents.

Marcia had told Jo that things were strained at work since the holiday, and that Keva had put in for a transfer to another department, citing more stable working patterns since they were soon to adopt a second child, a little brother for Olivia. But Marcia was sure it was because of what happened, and the fact that her 'strange' friends weren't the sort of people that they wanted around their children.

Jo was starting to feel that sending Maxine to a state school was more hassle than it was worth, and that maybe her parents' offer of paying for private school for Maxine, a school run and staffed by people with magic in their blood for students that were magical, would have been a better option.

She wanted Maxine to have a normal life, but after hearing Dani talk about what it was like to be the only magical girl in a large school, Jo did wonder if they'd done the right thing by Maxine. Although Maxine had them, Dani hadn't even had that growing up, only her grandmother that worked with dark magic, which was both a blessing and a curse. Dani had told her of the relief that she felt when she realised that she wasn't alone, that she wasn't going crazy, but then the unease that she'd felt with what her grandmother did, she was nothing more than a witch for hire, a magical mercenary.

The knock at the door roused her out of her thoughts and she realised that everyone else was happy except her. It was going to be the last time together as a coven for a while and Jo wanted to enjoy every second of it.

Maxine was thrilled about getting to stay up late on a school night, and after the pizza was eaten she curled up on her Uncle Roberto's lap, trying to stay awake as her head drooped and she cuddled in, snorting softly as Dandelion tried to climb on top of her. Dani had to promise raisins to get her to stop clambering over Maxine and Roberto took the opportunity to carry Maxine to bed.

When he came back Dandelion was sitting in his seat, but he just sat on Marcia's lap and nuzzled against her, like a dog that was too big to fit on his owner's lap. Now that Maxine was gone, Jo could see the sadness, as much as this new job was an amazing opportunity for Roberto, it was such a long way from the one that he loved and his family, both his parents and his coven.

"No matter where you are in the world, you are our blood, our kin, and we will be with you," Marcia said, holding Roberto tight as he let his hair fall over his face, only his nose left poking out.

They all piled in around the small armchair, already full to capacity, finding a way to curl in next to their kin, letting their powers mix and their souls combine, sending nothing but happy memories and love Roberto's way.

"I'll be back before you know it." Roberto reached out to put his arms around Cali, almost dragging her on to his lap and they sat like that for a while until Marcia said that she was starting to get squished.

There had been lots of goodbyes as the eerie quiet of the late hour surrounded them, making every tiny movement, every whispered word, seem loud in comparison.

Once Roberto was gone Dani let out a sob, Jo had been so worried about Maxine that she hadn't considered that Dani would feel the separation of their coven. She had got so used to having other magicals around her, not feeling alone any more, that this was going to be a big change for her too.

Jo held her as she cried, letting the tears flow as the sun started to peek over the horizon, and they could already feel the distance growing. Roberto would already be on his way across the Atlantic, and they could both feel the loss, one of their coven was missing and they wouldn't feel whole until they were all together again.


	9. Dinnertime

Maxine was handling the loss of her Uncle Roberto much better than Dani, although she'd managed to hide it from Maxine. It had helped that Roberto was video calling all of them almost every day, shows and time zones permitting, so Dani didn't get a chance to get too sad about it.

Marcia was coming around a lot more and Cali was joining them so that it wouldn't feel so strange, although she was more at ease with being a long distance from those like her, moving countries to study, leaving her family and community behind and then having to cope without a coven for a few years had meant that she had learnt to be happy on her own.

Maxine had loved having her aunts around, and she was telling them every day about what her and Kirsten had got up to at school, but not today, because today they were actually going for dinner at Kirsten's house.

Dani was smiling, happy that her little girl was so excited and Jo pulled her into a big hug, kissing her on the cheek as she wrapped her arm around her waist.

"I'm nervous, is that silly?" Dani asked, and Jo shook her head, she was feeling the same. She wanted it all to go well so that Maxine had a friend at school, if they had any more problems it was going to be time to consider taking her parents up on their offer.

"It's all going to be fine, you said that they sounded nice on the phone, and if all else fails, we just have to steer the conversation towards Dandelion and we should be fine." Jo laughed, but she knew that there was a nervous edge to it.

Maxine came bounding into the kitchen carrying Dandelion's travel cage, and Dandelion legged it at speed, fearing another trip to the vets.

"Can we take Dandelion with us? Please?" Maxine tried to look innocent but she just looked devious, she knew how to get what she wanted and what buttons to push to make that happen.

"No. There might not be space for her, and not everyone lets their rabbits roam about the house." Dani hadn't thought to ask about bringing Dandelion, she hadn't considered that Maxine would want to take her.

"Kirsten can come over here sometime and meet Dandelion that way," Jo said, and Dani nodded, mind reading definitely helped with parenting, especially when their little angel was a stubborn one.

"Okay." Maxine looked a little down but it would all be long forgotten once they were in the car.

"Dandelion you can come out now," Jo said, and a little rabbit nose peeked around the living room door, staring at Dani as if to ask if it was really okay.

_You're not taking me to the vets are you?_

_No, Maxine wanted to take you to a friend's house, but you're not invited._ Dani hoped that Maxine wouldn't tell Kirsten's parents anything awful after she spoke to their rabbits, and there was going to be no way to stop her chatting away to them.

_Really?_

_Yes. It's all okay, I've left you a treat by your cage._

_Mmm, treats._ Dandelion crept out of the living room, wandering through the hall until she found the alfalfa hay cubes that Dani had left for her. She wasn't a fan of the vets although the only thing worse than having to take her to the vets would be letting her catch myxomatosis.

"Say bye to Dandelion," Dani said, and Maxine just twitched her nose, even though Dandelion wasn't in sight. There was a thump from the kitchen and Jo went through to see what was wrong, but she was just munching away at her treats.

The journey didn't take long and Maxine smiled for the entire journey as Jo felt more and more nervous about it. She wasn't sure if Kirsten's parents were aware that Maxine had two mothers, or if they knew Keva and Steph, which meant they might have been told awful things about their family. Just as Jo's heart rate was starting to creep into rabbit territory, Dani pulled up outside a nice semi-detached house, with a well-trimmed front lawn and a perfectly manicured hedge.

Maxine waited for Jo to unclip her seatbelt before rushing up the path to the front door. Jo following after her as Dani locked the car.

There was a large willow tree wafting in the breeze, it's leaves preparing to shed for the winter. Maxine was fidgety, the excitement was brimming over and she was bouncing as she waited for someone to answer the door.

A short blond man answered, which Jo assumed was Kirsten's dad, and she heard someone working away in the kitchen, the clinking of pots and pans as Maxine headed straight for Kirsten. Jo had never seen Kirsten's dad before, although if someone else picked Kirsten up from school then it wasn't a surprise.

"Hi, I'm Sam." He put his hand out to shake and Jo took it.

"Jo, and Dani."

"Rabbits!" Maxine squealed, and Jo laughed, she knew that it was going to be difficult to pry Maxine away from them, even for dinner.

"Come on in," Sam said, and they followed his lead, leaving their shoes by the door and stepping carefully for fear of little furry ones underfoot. The house looked almost identical to theirs, furniture that was well used and didn't quite match, clearly second hand, but it made the place look homely.

They wandered through to the living room where Maxine and Kirsten were feeding two rabbits, one that looked almost identical to Dandelion apart from white paws, and a white lop with red eyes that looked a little scared, although that was possibly her normal appearance.

"This is Mildred, and Maud," Kirsten said, pointing to the brown rabbit and then the white lop, and Maxine smiled, stroking them both gently.

"Like in the books," Maxine said, and Kirsten nodded. She set about introducing herself to both of the rabbits. "This one speaks funny."

"Lops can't speak with their ears the same way, so you have to watch their whiskers," Dani said, and Maxine crouched down to have a chat with Maud. Dani glanced at Jo, who seemed to be happy with the turn of events, before looking at Sam with a raise of the eyebrow, all she wanted was for Maxine to have a friend.

"Kirsten's obsessed with rabbits too," Sam said, as Maxine set about teaching Kirsten to speak Rabbit.

"Maxine grew up with our one, Dandelion," Dani said, and she hoped it was enough explanation as to why their little girl seemed to be deep in conversation with a white lop.

The rest of the conversation was the usual stuff, what they did for a living, where they were from. Jo was trying to be vague about what shop she owned, when they heard someone approaching from the kitchen and Jo was glad that Kirsten's mum was going to save her from this awkward conversation.

A tall man wondered into the living room, sitting on the armrest next to Sam. "This is my husband, Esteban."

Jo tried to keep the surprise off her face, she knew that it was her own fault for assuming things. Luckily Dani spoke, saving them from the silence. "It's nice to meet you, Maxine and Kirsten get on so well."

Esteban looked at Jo as though he was trying to figure out where he knew her from. "You run The Art of Magic, don't you?"

"Yes. Are you a magician?" Jo tried to feel if Esteban had magic in his blood but there was nothing, he was either able to hide it, which was unlikely with all the power that Jo had, combined with the powers that she shared with her coven members.

"No, but I walk past it on the way to work." Esteban reached out for Sam's hand, intertwining their fingers as they both fidgeted with their glasses at the same time.

"What do you do?" Dani asked, as the girls were chatting away, Maxine lying on the floor as she told Kirsten what Maud was saying.

"I work with Sam, in the design department, that's how we met." Esteban cuddled in a little closer, he was towering over Sam, although with the height difference that was always going to be the case. Sam brushed a stray strand of hair out of Esteban's face, and Esteban blushed, clearly not used to public displays of affection.

"How did you two meet?" Sam asked, and Jo froze, they never really talked about how they met. The coven knew the whole story and Jo couldn't remember what they'd told Keva and Steph, they'd never asked about that, it was always information about adopting that they talked about, and then about children.

"We met at the hospital, we were both visiting people and we bumped into each other," Dani said, and Jo made sure that Dani could use her mind reading without obstructions. Although this was the truth, albeit with some key facts left out, including the fact that they had left with Maxine.

"And not long after that we adopted Maxine," Jo said, reaching out for Dani's hand, needing as much comfort as she could get.

"We were lucky with adopting Kirsten, she'd been through a few foster homes but they wanted her to have a permanent home before she started school, and we were the only couple not looking for a baby." Esteban smiled as Kirsten looked up at them when she heard her name, before going back to fussing over the rabbits.

"I can't quite imagine our life without her anymore," Sam said, and they all nodded.

Jo remembered how terrified she'd felt about being a mother, having to take care of another human being, but now thinking back, she couldn't imagine her life any other way. Although a lot of that was having Dani by her side, she was so practical, doing what had to be done to make sure that Maxine was raised right, showered with love and affection. Not that Jo hadn't done her part, in the end, putting the coven in place so that Maxine was protected, and having her family support her had made everything easier.

It still didn't feel like five years had gone by, and she couldn't believe that she woke up next to Dani every morning, got to share her life and love with her.

"I'm hungry," Kirsten said, and she ran over to her dads, waiting for Sam to lift her onto his lap.

"It'll be fifteen minutes," Esteban said, and he leant in to tickle Kirsten, as Sam tried to protect his glasses. "How about you come help me chop carrots for Mildred and Maud?"

Esteban carried Kirsten through to the kitchen as Maxine picked up Mildred, her head was resting by Maxine's ear as though she was whispering secrets to her.

"Can Kirsten come and meet Dandelion?" Maxine asked, "Dandelion would like to meet her too."

"Sure, if it's okay with Kirsten's parents," Jo said, before mouthing the word 'later' to Sam, there was time to discuss all of it after dinner. At least it was a Friday evening, so they didn't have to worry about getting Maxine home at a reasonable time.

Kirsten returned with a handful of chopped carrots, Maxine put Mildred down before taking a piece of carrot to feed her and then taking a piece for herself.

"You eat carrots raw?" Kirsten said, and Maxine nodded as she waited for Mildred to finish eating her carrot.

"Mildred says you should eat some too, she doesn't mind sharing with you."

Kirsten looked at Maxine with suspicion, but she ate a bit, pulling strange faces as she got used to it.

"See, it's nice." Maxine took another piece as Mildred and Maud nuzzled at Kirsten's hand trying to get their fair share of the carrot. Kirsten didn't look convinced, but she ate another piece as they all munched away.

"Is that how you get Maxine to eat her veggies? I'll have to remember that," Sam said, and Dani nodded, she wasn't going to tell Sam that she had copied Dandelion's lead, since she was the one that had helped her get Maxine to eat properly, although Dandelion wasn't always the best at doing that for herself, no biscuit was safe when she was about.

"Food's ready," Esteban called from the kitchen, and the girls rushed through as though they'd never been fed before.

The dinner was nice and neither Sam nor Esteban seemed to mind that Maxine talked a lot about what Dandelion had told her, although if it meant that they would have less of a fight to get their daughter to eat healthily then they would gladly admit that Maxine could speak to rabbits.

It was a relaxing evening, and after dinner, as the girls went to fuss over Mildred and Maud some more, they talked about the possibility of Kirsten coming round one day after school.

"That would be good, she goes to a child minder for a couple of hours at the moment, but it would be nice if she could spend some time with friends," Sam said, and Jo was glad that she got a lot of flexibility with her job, and Dani's shifts, that they didn't have to worry about leaving Maxine with strangers.

"Sometimes her aunts pick her up after school, but on the nights that we pick her up, I don't see it being a problem." Dani looked at Jo, it would be her more often than not since she worked less hours, and Jo nodded. She got out her phone so that she could see her schedule, checking what days she was picking Maxine up. "Tuesday and Friday next week."

"That would be a good trial run," Jo said, she was sure that she'd probably be able to pick up Maxine on a couple of the other days, but she'd have to wait and see what orders they got as to whether it was her or Cali that went to collect her.

It was nice that Maxine had a friend, and that Kirsten's parents were so easy to get along with. Hopefully it would all go well next week, and Dandelion would be on her best behaviour.

There were hugs all round as they left, Maxine wanted to stay but she kept yawning and a tired Maxine was a grumpy Maxine, so they headed home, relieved that it had all gone well.


	10. The Clock Keeps on Ticking

Kirsten was thrilled to meet Dandelion, and there was no sign that she was unhappy at spending time with Maxine after school, most days they just watched tv or played video games until Sam or Esteban came to collect Kirsten. It was a nice routine and Dani was glad to have a few more grown-ups in her life, since some evenings Dandelion was the most she got in terms of sensible conversation, although it mostly revolved around interesting things that Dandelion had seen or done while she was out.

Today Dani was planning on picking them both up, and she'd got Jo to leave her the car so that they wouldn't get soaked, the rain was torrential and it showed no signs of letting up. Dani had dropped Jo off, and she was planning on picking her up after Kirsten's dads had come to get her. Since she walked everywhere it wasn't really worth having a second car, although on days like this it would have come in handy.

As she dropped Maxine off at the school gate she made sure that she had her lunch and that she knew who was picking her up.

"You're coming to get me and Kirsten."

"Have fun at school." Dani waved as Maxine got out of the car.

"Have fun cleaning Dandelion's cage."

Touché, Dani thought, as Maxine scurried into school, the cleaning of the cage was always a case of bribing Dandelion and hoping that she would stay out of the way long enough to clean it up. It didn't always work and she was pain when she started chewing at the rubbish bag, unaware that rabbits weren't meant to eat plastic.

No amount of reasoning could convince Dandelion that the cleaning was necessary, and she often took to shredding up the newspaper to show her displeasure at it all, although she'd been good lately.

Once the house was tidy, Dani had a quiet day reading her book and relaxing, before making up the dough for cookies, to be baked once she got back with the girls, it was definitely hot chocolate and cookies kind of weather.

The rain was still battering against the house when Dani left to pick up the girls, the traffic was slow and there was police out for where one of the roads had flooded, a drain backed up with all the wet leaves, a common occurrence. By the time Dani pulled up outside the school she was over ten minutes late, but she was sure that Maxine would have waited inside, so it wouldn't be too bad.

She went inside to see several kids waiting for their parents, so she wasn't the only one that had been held up. Dani was looking around for Maxine when she saw Sam crouching down talking to Kirsten.

"Hi. Where's Maxine?" It must have been a mix up with dates, but that wasn't a big deal, she was going to be here either way so it didn't matter that Sam was here to collect Kirsten.

"Her uncle came for her but he said I couldn't go with them." Kirsten let out a little sob, and Sam held her tight.

Dani could believe that Will would come and pick up Maxine without saying a word to her, or that Jo would have forgotten to pass on something like that. Last time she'd spoken to Will he was busy doing his residency, and had no plans to come visit them until December. But she didn't have any other uncles? So who had picked up her baby?

"Her uncle?" Dani showed Kirsten a picture of Will, it was from his graduation last year but he hadn't changed too much since then. "This guy?"

Kirsten shook her head and Dani felt her stomach twist, there was no way that she'd have gone off with a stranger, would she?

"What did her uncle look like?" Sam asked Kirsten, and she looked so scared.

"You're not in trouble, sweetie," Dani said, as she crouched down next to Sam. Her phone went back to its lock screen and that was when Kirsten spoke.

"That's him, that's the man."

Kirsten pointed at Dani's phone and that was when Dani saw it. Roberto. Was he back already? But he definitely wouldn't have picked up Maxine without telling her. She shook her head and Kirsten let out a little sob.

"It's okay sweetie, it's going to be fine," Dani said, glancing at Sam who saw the fear in her eyes.

"I'll call you if I hear anything," Sam said, holding Kirsten tight.

Dani thought about asking the school if they saw anything unusual, but Roberto was on their list of people authorised to pick up Maxine, so they wouldn't be any help, and the police weren't going to be a help in this case. She called Jo and Marcia from the car, telling them to meet her at home, hoping that when she got there Roberto and Maxine would be playing video games and apologising for scaring her.

But there was no such luck, the house was empty and there was no sign that anyone else had been here.

_Dandelion, have you seen Maxine?_

_No, isn't she with you?_

Dani shook her head, it was no use, she was going to have to find Roberto and ask him what the hell was going on. The piece of paper with his address on it was in the little filing cabinet in the study, and Dani ran up to get it before summoning all her energy so that she could teleport to him.

She stumbled as she landed, the room was pitch black, and she wasn't sure if it was even Roberto's room. Dani had no idea what time it was here, she couldn't worry about any of that now and she reached out to find the curtains, pulling on them to allow the strong desert sunlight to come streaming in and the air around her warmed immediately.

There was a groan from the bed at all the light and as he rolled over Dani saw Roberto's hair flop down over his face, at least she was in the right place.

Dani pulled the blanket back so that she could see his face. "Roberto, do you have Maxine?"

"Dani? What are you doing here?" Roberto reached out to find his glasses, looking at Dani with confusion as he stretched and yawned.

"Do you have Maxine?" Dani was gripping Roberto's shoulders and she could feel his fear, but she just needed answers.

"No. Isn't she in Britain?"

"Someone who looks like you picked her up from school today and I was hoping that you had her." Dani let out a sob, tears running down her face. "I thought maybe you'd teleported over to visit her."

"I can't teleport, not without help." Roberto rested his hand on Dani's arm and Dani slumped against him, he held her for a split second before leaping into action. He threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, slipping on his trainers before grabbing his wallet and passport out of the small safe in the hotel room.

"I know, I just hoped that she was here with you." Dani took a deep breath and stood up, preparing herself to go home.

"Let's go." Roberto held her hand and braced himself for the shock of teleporting.

*

Jo got the call while she was still at work, and she cursed the fact that she didn't have the car with her today. Her heart was racing and she wasn't sure what to think when Cali wandered into the side room to see her standing, shaking her head as she tried to figure out what was happening.

"Maxine's gone missing, I have to go home, see if she's there."

"I'll come with you," Cali said, scribbling on a piece of paper that they were closed due to a family emergency.

They rushed out into the street, dashing towards the bus stop when they saw a yellow sign taped over the timetables.

_Stop out of service, we apologise for the inconvenience._

Typical, the one time that they would have been useful, was the one time that they weren't running. Jo was oblivious to the rain splashing down around her, and the fact that her thin coat was useless at protecting her from it.

Jo looked down at her shoes, nice comfy flat shoes, and Cali was wearing something similar. "I'm going to run, it's just over a mile, I can do it in ten minutes."

"Let's go."

Jo wished that she'd kept up running after university and it was more like fifteen minutes by the time they were in Jo's house, soaked to the bone and searching everywhere for Maxine, in the vain hope that she had come home by herself. But there was no sign of her.

*

Dani and Roberto landed with a thud in the kitchen of Dani's house and Dandelion scampered away before thumping to alert everybody of the danger.

Jo and Cali were sitting at the kitchen table and Marcia was here with her police laptop, which would mean she had access to all the files and resources.

"Sam and Esteban will let us know if they see or hear anything about Maxine," Jo said, as she rushed in for a hug.

"Keva and Steph have said that they haven't seen her, although I've spun it as a misunderstanding." Marcia typed something into the laptop before looking up again, not even noticing Roberto standing there, she was in work mode now. "I've opened a missing persons but it's assigned to me so that no-one else can get in the way."

Dani was fidgeting with her bracelet, checking that Maxine's heart was still beating, which it was, and it didn't seem elevated, although her own heart was racing at the thought of what might have happened to her baby.

"I hate to ask this, but what dark magic are your family involved in, Roberto?" Jo compressed her lips, she didn't want to believe that anyone in their coven was to blame, but she had to find out why her baby had been taken.

"There's no dark magic in my family." Roberto shook his head, and Dani backed away from him, retreating towards the kitchen table, leaving Roberto standing with four people all staring at him.

"We saw what happened to you as a boy, the monsters that came for you." Cali twisted a lock of hair, trying to keep her voice soft, screaming wasn't going to help them now. "Could they have taken Maxine?"

"It's not like that. My ancestors, they were burnt at the stake over four hundred years ago, at a time when our people were persecuted. They wouldn't tell them where the rest of their family was, so their executioners cursed their descendants to forever see what the punishment was for being a witch." Roberto sat down on the floor, curling up as he found the strength to carry on.

"Witches were hunting witches?" Dani asked, she didn't know much about the history of that period, she'd had no-one to teach her, and she wasn't sure that Russia had as much of the mass hysteria that other places seemed to have at that time.

"Those who practiced dark magic became part of the witch hunts, making sure that the only people who could stop them were burnt at the stake. That way they would have full control over those who weren't magical."

Marcia ran over to him, holding him tight. "So could they have come for Maxine?"

"No, they're just nightmares, they feel real, it was terrifying when I was little, but the people who did it are all long dead. It's why I won't have children, it's not fair to inflict that on them, and adoption only places the curse on them. But Maxine's not mine, so it wouldn't affect her."

"Are there any other grudges that people have against the coven? That would make them take Maxine?" Jo asked and everyone shook their head. "I'm going to the shop, I'll make something that can track her, at least we could see where she is."

Dani sprinted up the stairs and Jo heard the sound of furniture being tipped over. Just as she was about to go check that Dani was alright, the thud of her leaping down the stairs echoed around the house and Dani appeared holding a little box, the sort that had one of her bracelet charms in.

She held the little charm between her fingers, tears streaming down her face as her eyes darted about, looking at a picture that only she could see.

"What can you see?" Jo asked, her hands trembling as she held onto Dani.

"She's fine, she's talking to someone but she's not afraid, they must still look like Roberto." Dani had calmed now that she had seen that Maxine was okay for herself, but it didn't change the fact that they didn't know where she was.

"Is there anything that we could use to find her?" Marcia asked, she let go of Roberto, returning to the laptop before typing in a few more things.

Dani shook her head, all she could see was Maxine, the person who had took her must be at the other side of the room, or maybe they were projecting so that only Maxine could see them.

"I hate to ask this," Marcia said, in her police officer voice, and Jo was dreading what she was going to ask. "Is there anyone who has a grudge against either of you? Who would do this to get to you?"

Dani gasped. "The man, he tried to come for me at my parents' house, he was a client of my grandmother's, no doubt looking for someone to carry on practicing dark magic for them."

"Do you have a name? A description?" Marcia was trying not to push for information, but Jo could hear the need in her voice, they needed something to narrow down the search for Maxine.

"No, I ran before I could meet him, I wasn't sure if my family had sold me out or not." Dani slumped against Jo, the exhaustion catching up with her and Jo held her tight, escorting her to chair before she fell down. "But he wasn't magical, if he's behind this then he'd need to have someone helping him."

"There was a guy," Cali said, clasping her hand over her mouth, "He came into the shop a few months ago, asking for blood magic… So that he could shapeshift into another person."

"You didn't tell me about that," Jo said, but she wouldn't have done it even if she'd known about it.

"You said no blood magic, so…" Cali slumped in her chair, but even if Jo had been there, she'd never have been able to see this coming.

"It's not your fault. Come with me to the shop and I'll think of something to let us see that day." Jo grabbed her jacket, it was still soaked but she didn't feel the cold or the damp, she was numb and she wasn't going to feel again until her little girl was back in her arms.

"We'll stay here, see if anything comes up through the regular channels." Marcia looked at Jo with a face that she'd never seen before, it was her face when she had to deal with situations like this at work, and she didn't know if would all work out okay. "I'll call if you we find anything."

Jo darted for the car, she drove as Dani was still shaking, and thankfully the traffic was light with no buses blocking the route. She didn't even lock the car as she headed for the back entrance to the shop, although the car was out of sight so it should be safe.

"Do you remember the guy's name?" Dani asked, staring at Cali with an intensity that was terrifying.

"It was something foreign, familiar to me, and his accent was almost like German, but not quite." Cali shook her head as she tried to remember it.

"I've got a spell for memory, it might help if we boost its power, try and focus it on that specific memory." Jo held up a vial with pink powder in it, and Cali eyed it suspiciously.

"It's okay, just relax." Dani took Cali's hand, with Jo completing the circle, and there was the crackle of static electricity in the air. "He left a card, Cali put it in the drawer with the completed order slips."

Dani's eyes were focused on some far away scene, her face twitching as though she was talking to Dandelion. "There was another man in the shop, he left before they started talking business."

Jo focused on the image that Dani had retrieved from Cali's memory, and she recognised the man, she'd never forget his face. Jos, Maxine's biological father.

"He took her and he doesn't realise what he's messing with." Jo broke the circle and headed towards the drawer, finding the business card for Helmut, it said that he was a management consultant, whatever that was, which meant it was a perfect front for shady dark magic dealings.

"I think he does, I think he knows what Maxine will be capable of one day, and he wants it all for himself." Dani couldn't believe that this situation had got even worse, that there was someone willing to exploit a five year old girl for their own material gains. "It would explain why he'd go to the trouble of hiring someone to help him kidnap her. Otherwise he'd have just snatched her."

None of this reassured Dani, but at least now they had a lead, and they knew just the woman to scare him.

*

Marcia had never done anything like this, and Roberto looked comical in her spare uniform and Keva's stab-proof vest, but she wouldn't put anyone else in danger and she wouldn't want anyone else to risk their job, or jail. She knew that Roberto would do anything for Maxine, no matter what the cost.

They showed up in her car, but she was hoping that it was generic enough to look like one of the unmarked cars that the detectives had. Marcia was really hoping that the uniform would go a long way.

They knocked on the door but the place was eerily deserted, some of it could be just that he was the sole occupant in a mostly empty office building, but Marcia would place good money on some sort of dark magic being involved.

There was no answer, but she expected that, if he was kidnapping a magical child he must have expected other magicals to be searching for her, which meant he'd have to be prepared for anything. She couldn't imagine that he was stupid enough to do illegal things in any property that had his name on it. But where would Helmut take her? And it would have to be him, Jos couldn't shapeshift and from what Dani had seen, Maxine was just chatting away to Helmut so he still had to be in Roberto's form, although who knew what would happen when the spell wore off.

The idea that there might be more than just two people involved in this hit Marcia hard, and she cleared the building with Roberto trailing behind her, keeping an eye out for any sign of people, but there was nothing. A few locked offices had proved no match for Roberto, but there was still no sign of Maxine, or anyone else who could help them find her.

Marcia called Dani, hopefully she was having better luck. "We've not found anything here."

"We're trying to trace him from his business card, but it's old and it doesn't have quite the same connection to him as a personal item."

There was the sound of something glass breaking in the background, followed by Jo swearing, and Marcia hung up. She was going to check to see if Helmut had any other buildings in his name, or any other companies that might have a building where he could be holding Maxine, but as the clock kept on ticking, she was starting to fear for the worst.


	11. Race Against Time

Maxine couldn't believe that her Uncle Roberto was here, she was so excited to see him. He must have come back just to surprise her. She ran over to give him a hug and Kirsten followed.

"Are you taking me home today?" Maxine asked, mama had said that she would come pick her up from school, but maybe she was in on the surprise?

"Yes."

"Can Kirsten come with us?" Maxine asked, clutching her stuffed rabbit tight, even though she was getting too old to be taking it everywhere with her.

"No, sorry sweetie."

Maxine thought for a long while, but she really wanted to spend time with her Uncle Roberto, and she would have plenty of chances to spend time with Kirsten in the future. "Bye, Kirsten."

She didn't look back as she walked up to a shiny new car, didn't see the hurt on Kirsten's face. Uncle Roberto sat in the back with her, and a strange man was in the driver's seat, she felt like she should recognise him but he must have been a friend of Uncle Roberto's.

They drove off through the rain, the windscreen wipers failing to clear the water as it battered against the car. After a few minutes Maxine knew that they weren't going towards Uncle Roberto's place.

"Have you got a new home?" Maxine asked, and Uncle Roberto nodded. She asked him to show her some new tricks, but he said that she would have to wait until they got home.

Uncle Roberto didn't seem quite like himself but Maxine couldn't figure out why. She'd never seen him anything other than happy and cheery, always doing tricks for her. Although she knew that there was times when her mama was tired that she got quiet, so maybe he was just tired?

The rest of the journey no-one spoke, and Maxine held her rabbit tight, she wasn't sure what was going on and it scared her.

*

Jo had a view of their house through an orb, just in case Maxine ended up there, so that Dani could transport back. They were all much better off here at the shop, with every conceivable powder and potion that might help them find Maxine. Dani and Cali were searching through some books to see if there was anything that would enable them to make a tracking spell to locate Maxine or Helmut.

They were working on the assumption that they were together, otherwise it meant that there was another magical involved in the kidnapping, who could shapeshift into other people. That would mean a lot of power just to take one five year old girl, and that was terrifying.

Marcia and Roberto were on their way, after not finding anything at Helmut's offices. Although she knew that it was unlikely, if someone had the power to shapeshift like that, then they would also have the skills to teleport or cloak themselves without too much effort. And someone who would dabble in blood magic, was probably no stranger to dark magic either.

Dani was alternating between holding the charm that let her hear Maxine's heartbeat and the one that allowed her to see her. She was still unharmed from what Dani could see and she was chatting away to whoever was holding her.

_"I'm hungry. Can I have some food?" Maxine asked, and she sounded calm._

_"Not yet." It sounded like Roberto and yet it clearly wasn't, but Dani still couldn't see them, although if Helmut looked like Roberto it wouldn't help them track where Maxine was._

_"Is someone going to feed Mildred, the rabbit?" Maxine asked, and there was a little smile on her face._

_"I'm sure that your mum will have left her food."_

_Maxine nodded, and Dani knew that she'd already figured out that it wasn't Roberto that was talking to her. She didn't know if it was because of her powers or if it was just because she was so close to her Uncle Roberto that she could sense the difference in their personalities._

 

"She's still calm," Dani said, and it was definitely for the best that Maxine wasn't scared, since her powers could be triggered by strong emotions. It was rare, she was still too young to get her powers, but it was something that they had to be prepared for. "And she knows that it's not Roberto that she's talking to."

Jo shook her head. "Has this triggered her powers?"

"Doesn't look like it, she's just buying time by talking." Dani looked over at Jo, she knew where Maxine got that particular skill from. Jo was good at talking until she got her way, or got her point across, which were often the same thing.

"Do you still have a lock of her baby hair at home?" Jo asked, looking up from an old and dusty book.

"Yes, why?" Dani twisted her necklace around her fingers, she always did it when she was nervous but now she was pulling on it with such force that Jo thought that she would end up cutting her neck.

"I need some of her DNA for the tracking spell," Jo said, "Once we've got a location you can teleport in."

Dani disappeared on the spot, appearing only moments later holding a photo album that they had been given by Jo's parents. It was lilac and blue, Maxine's favourite colours, although considering it was her and Jo's favourite colours, that wasn't a surprise. Jo took the album, the cover creaking open as she found what she was looking for.

Inside the first page was a small lock of dark blond hair, Maxine's hair had got darker as she got older and if her biological parents were anything to go by she was probably going to end up with quite dark brown hair in the end.

Jo took a couple of strands out, using a pair of tweezers so that it left enough as a memento, or if this spell didn't work and she had to try other things that required some of Maxine's hair.

She ground up the hair with all the other ingredients using a small mortar and pestle as Dani watched on, she was biting at the loose skin on her lip and Jo wanted to hold her tight and tell her that it would all be okay, but she wasn't sure that it would be. Jo was doing all that she could to bring Maxine back, and she hoped that Dani would understand, everything else could wait until Maxine was found.

The brown powder was poured into a round flask that had an ominous clear liquid in it, there was something about the way it distorted the light that suggested it was otherworldly, and once the powder was added it swirled together until the water was black, shining under the light like oil spilt on tarmac.

"It's going to take at least half an hour to react, once it turns a pale green colour then it's ready." Jo took a deep breath and headed for the kettle, since there wasn't a lot else that they could do. She had seen Dani glancing at the room with all of her grandmother's books on dark magic, along with a lot of other books that Jo was keeping safe, and shielded from those who wanted to use their powers for evil.

Although it was tempting to use them to find Maxine, whatever spells that they used, the magic that they summoned would flow through Maxine, the same way that Jo had her parents' powers. Not that it always worked that way, there were some with recessive powers, like Dani, and they often developed skills that weren't related to anyone in their family.

With Maxine already more susceptible to dark magic, it was too great a risk, although Jo was sure that if Maxine wasn't found in the next few hours she might be more open to the idea, but she really hoped that it wasn't going to come to that.

The kettle clicked to say that it was done, and Jo jumped, before finding out five cups and making tea and coffee for everyone. Dani noticed how she just left the used teabags in the sink, which was normally a crime of the highest order in their house, but now wasn't the time to worry about these things, they needed a caffeine boost, as no-one was going to be sleeping until Maxine was back with them.

Just as Jo had finished putting the sugar in everyone's mug, whether they normally took sugar or not, Marcia and Roberto wandered in through the back door, clicking the lock shut after themselves.

Roberto was no longer in the police uniform, the longer he stayed in it, the more suspicious it was, and there was no reasonable excuse for it. Even if Marcia told them it was just a joke, she'd be in for a lot of trouble at work, at best it was a serious breach of protocol, and at worst Roberto could be jailed for impersonating a police officer.

Marcia put the laptop down on the worktop, clearing a few things out of the way before booting it up. "It's still searching to see if Helmut has any other companies which might have offices or buildings. And it's looking to see if there's any records for Jos, as far as we can tell he's never lived here, he was just on holiday here when his wife went into labour."

Jo handed out all the drinks and there was a strange silence as she stared at her potion, willing it to react faster. There was an almost audible hum of anxiety which combined with the whine of the laptop fan, which Jo was sure was the sound of hell on earth.

She had no idea how long she sat staring at the round flask for, its contents still stubbornly black, when Dani let out a sob.

"We should have just accepted your parents' help, let her go to a private school for children like her, this wouldn't have happened there." Dani slumped down against the wall and Cali went in to hold her as the tears ran down her face.

"You don't know that, it might have only put her in more danger, it would have only taken one person practicing dark magic there to put her at risk." Jo remembered her days there, teenagers and magical powers were a bad combination, and there wasn't quite enough supervision to make sure everyone behaved themselves. Also curiosity was a strong motivator and peer pressure was one of the hardest things to say no to.

She'd kept herself out of all that, but it hadn't been easy and it definitely hadn't made her a lot of friends. Putting Maxine into that environment was a gamble, and it wasn't one that Jo or Dani had been willing to take.

"I failed her, I was meant to keep her safe and I failed." Dani buried her head against Cali's shoulder, and Jo rushed over to her, holding her while she cried.

"You haven't failed, which is why you're here, doing everything you can to get our little girl back." Jo stroked Dani's hair, whispering all the ways that she was a good mama to Maxine as the tears fell. She had never felt more useless, unable to do the one thing that would make this all better, find Maxine.

"The potion's ready," Roberto said. Jo gave Dani a kiss on the forehead before taking the flask off the heat, she didn't want to overcook it and have to start all over again, that would be the worst kind of torture.

"Who knows the town the best?" Jo asked, the potion worked by drawing the drinker's mind in the direction of the one that they were tracing, which meant that whoever took it would have to work out where they were going, and the final destination from only the landmarks that they saw on the way.

"Me, I see a lot of it with work," Marcia said, and Jo handed her the flask.

"You have to drink it all." Jo grimaced, the smell of it while heating had got more and more pungent, and Jo was sure that it would taste worse than it smelt, since that seemed to be the way with potions. Although she was raised with only using her magic when necessary, which meant that if she needed a potion, it was worth tolerating the taste of it.

Marcia drank it all down with a couple of gulps, not hesitating as she got the last couple of drops before falling backwards into Roberto's arms, her eyes shut but moving as her spirit rushed across town to wherever Maxine was being held.

The longer that Marcia was in a trance the more Jo worried as to where her baby had been taken, but with Dani's teleporting skill, it didn't matter how far away she was, just as long as Marcia recognised the place that would be good enough.

Marcia's breathing slowed and Jo was worried that the spell was wearing off, or worse still having some sort of reaction to it. Her body started to convulse and just as Jo thought that she was going to have a seizure her eyes flew open and she rolled over onto her side before throwing up, the flecks of green from the potion obvious as she retched. Roberto stroked her back and waited for her to finish as Jo fetched her a glass of water.

Everyone wanted to know what she'd seen but they didn't want to startle her in case she forgot important details, the spell was rather vague on what the drinker would actually see, or how accurate it would be. There was always a memory spell if Marcia couldn't remember what she'd seen.

"She's at the hotel on the edge of the town, just off the motorway junction. The Bull Inn." Marcia gasped for air before throwing up again, her skin clammy with sweat as Roberto held her hair out of the way.

Dani picked up a knife, and Marcia called out to stop her. "I'm coming with you, this has to be done the right way, or you'll be going to jail for assault." Marcia wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, standing up on shaky legs as she checked that she had her baton, and her Taser.

"I'm coming with you," Jo said, with Cali and Roberto joining in. "We're stronger together, and there's no way of knowing how many bad guys that we're dealing with."

Dani flinched when Jo said it, but she was right, they could all boost their powers if they were together, and that might be very useful.

"Can you teleport with all of us?" Roberto asked, typically the more people that you tried to move, the harder it was.

"Yes, because you all make me stronger." Dani put out her hand and the others held on as she focused on where she wanted to go. "Did you get a room number?"

"Room thirty-three," Marcia said, and with that they all disappeared into thin air.

*

Maxine was looking at the man, who looked so much like her Uncle Roberto but he wasn't her Uncle Roberto. It was just someone pretending to be him, someone who had magic, like her. She couldn't remember when she first noticed that some people were different, that they didn't all 'feel' the same to her.

When she started school she was aware that no-one else was like her, but Dandelion had told her that it was all fine, and that she shouldn't tell anyone that she was different, that she could do things that they couldn't. Dandelion said that it had to be their secret; that not even her mama or her mum could know about it.

Maxine had trusted Dandelion, she had done nothing but keep her safe, even when they were apart she had made sure that other rabbits watched over her. Dandelion was her protector.

She listened in to the man's thoughts, she had got good at it lately, which was how she knew that Olivia and her mums didn't like her anymore. Maxine also knew that her mama was worried about her, which was another reason that Dandelion had told her not to tell her mama, that she didn't want to cause her any more worry. She didn't want her mama to worry.

He was thinking about when the other man would get here, and Maxine didn't want to be here when he arrived, from the man's thoughts he wasn't a nice guy. She could sense that he didn't know about her, he was thinking that the other man was crazy, trying to steal his daughter back in a custody battle, although he had been told that she would have great power one day, and she would make them both rich.

Maxine held her stuffed rabbit tight, wondering what she should do. Screaming probably wouldn't help, she couldn't hear anyone else around. Running wasn't an option, since he was a grown-up he would just catch her. But she knew that the other man was going to be here soon, so time was running out.

"I need to pee." Maxine used her most pitiful, whiny voice. The one that usually got her what she wanted.

The man looked around, there was a little bathroom in the room, and she could hear him thinking that he didn't want to clear up the mess if she wet herself.

"I'll hold onto rabbit. We don't want him getting dirty," the man said, and Maxine handed over rabbit with a sad look on her face. She would get rabbit back later, she had done it before when she had left _her_ at home.

She didn't lock the bathroom door, it wouldn't stop him if he wanted in, and she didn't want to make him suspicious. Maxine heard a knock on the door as she counted to sixty and her heart rate shot up. She flushed the toilet, and with that she focused every ounce of her strength into getting out of there, and heading home.


	12. The Way It Will Always Be

Helmut let Jos in, waiting for the noise of the toilet to fade away. He was expecting to hear water running but there was no sound, and he burst into the bathroom, checking behind the shower curtain to see if she was hiding but there was no sign of her.

Jos was right behind him, rage barely concealed as his hands were already balled up into fists. Was he going to fight a five year old girl? From what Helmut had seen of him, it was far too likely.

"She's gone. Her parents must have found out where she was." Helmut stepped back, distancing himself from Jos, his magic was no good to him if he was unconscious.

"She's got powers." Jos relaxed his hand and Helmut took a breath.

"She's too young. Someone either astrally projected just for her, or has a way of speaking directly to her, and they told her to hide in the bathroom so they could take her back."

"I'm not paying you for this." Jos spat the words out. He slammed the bathroom door but there was the sound of something much larger hitting the floor, like five people teleporting into a small hotel room and landing awkwardly on the bed, sending them all flying.

Roberto fell off the bed and cracked against the wall, his head sounding hollow as it hit. Cali was sprawled on the floor and Marcia was throwing up again, the shock of transporting through space at such speed a shock to her system.

Dani stared at Jos, and the entire coven could feel her hate, pure and undiluted as she stared at the man who had kidnapped her baby.

"If only you'd stayed for dinner all those years ago, I wouldn't have had to do this," Jos said, as though that was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"You were the one that paid off my parents?" Dani couldn't believe that her own family had betrayed her like that, but the lure of money seemed universal.

"Yes, but then I realised that Maxine would be even more powerful than you or your grandmother."

"You can't cheat the system." Dani's voice made it sound like she was smiling, and Jo felt her satisfaction, but she had no idea what would happen next. "You promised your first born child in return for spells that made you wealthy and successful."

"I will get her back and then I will have both." Jos smiled, a wretched grin. "You can't stop me."

"I don't have to stop you." Dani laughed, and the room got warmer, it was starting to feel like a sauna when there was the glow of reddish light, casting eerie shadows around the room.

Jo watched as the floor underneath Jos started to break open, the wails of demons filling the room with their screeching as they reached out for Jos, dragging him down as he screamed until his lungs were raw.

The screams were awful but it was the look of absolute pain on Jos's face that would haunt her forever.

Dani breathed a sigh of relief, and that was when they heard a noise from the bathroom, the sound of someone slipping in a bath tub.

Marcia waved her hand, freezing everything apart from them as Dani rushed to the bathroom, expecting to see Maxine, but there was no sign of her, only Helmut still disguised as Roberto.

"Maxine?" Dani yelled her name over and over again but there was no response.

"If she's here she will be frozen," Jo said, resting her hand on Dani's shoulder to comfort her.

"I can unfreeze everything, but it'll unfreeze him too." Marcia stood back, there wasn't space for all of them in the tiny bathroom.

"Have you still got your Taser?" Cali asked, and Marcia's hand shot to her hip, checking that it was still there.

"I'll zap him if he gets any ideas." Marcia swiped her hand and pulled her Taser at the same time. Helmut barely had a chance to work out what was going on before the crackle of the Taser, zapping him as he reverted back to his own form. "I just couldn't bear to see him in Roberto's body."

"Maxine?" Dani yelled, but Helmut put his hands up as though he was surrendering.

"She's not here, she said she needed the bathroom, and then she just disappeared." Helmut shook his head. "I thought you'd found her, taken her back."

"Why would you take her in the first place?" Dani said, her voice scarier than the threat of Marcia's Taser.

"He paid me to, a lot of money, and the promise of more." Helmut looked pitiful, still sat at the bottom of the bath tub. "When I saw that she was your child, I nearly turned the job down, but…"

"So, you stalked a five year old and then kidnapped her?" Jo could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but she wasn't going to cry, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"I saw how much she loved Roberto, and when I saw that he was going to be out of the country, it was the perfect opportunity."

"Where is Maxine now?" Dani's arm hair was standing on end, but it wasn't cold, the room was still stiflingly hot after Jos's exit. She was preparing something big.

"I don't know, she just disappeared." Helmut cowered, he could sense the energy in the room, and he was too weak to do anything, the shapeshifting had drained him. "I only ask for one thing. Make my death quick."

"We're not going to kill you." Dani's smirk was the last thing that Jos had ever seen, and Helmut was convinced that it would be the last thing that he ever saw too.

"I heard what you did to Jos." Helmut was trembling now, and if it wasn't for the fact that he'd kidnapped a child, their child, Dani would almost feel sorry for him.

"We didn't kill him, he admitted that he was going to break the deal, and the forces of darkness did the rest." Dani folded her arms, she'd figured out that he wasn't a threat.

Helmut raised an eyebrow. "You know the police can't do anything, they'll assume it was Roberto that took her and case closed. Even if you have paid off one of their officers."

Marcia held out the Taser as though she was going to fire again, but in the end she just let her arm slowly fall back down. "We will get justice."

"I'm not part of any coven, so I can't be punished by them." Helmut looked smug, but he had no idea who he was messing with. "And good luck finding five covens to agree on a punishment."

Jo smiled, she'd never looked more like Dani, a grin that struck fear into Helmut's heart.

"Freeze him," Jo said to Marcia, and she waved her hand as though she was waving goodbye. "Let's get back to the shop, we have to make a new tracking spell and Marcia can see if anyone's found Maxine."

Dani put out her hand before teleporting back to the shop, they'd have until morning at the earliest to come back and collect Helmut's frozen body, and she was sure that Jo's plan would be worse than death for him.

*

Maxine landed behind a hedge, she glanced around to see if anyone was watching but there was no-one in sight. She didn't recognise any of the plants, and this definitely wasn't her house.

Once she was in the street she looked around but nothing seemed familiar and she wished that she had her rabbit with her, or better still Dandelion, since she had a good sense of direction and she was able to follow her nose with her superior rabbit sense of smell.

There was a gust of wind, and she caught sight of a willow tree rustling in the wind. Kirsten's house.

Maxine ran so quickly that she ended up tripping over her own feet, but she wasn't going to rest until she was safe, so she picked herself up and headed for the house, tears already running down her face with the shock of it all.

She banged on the door and Kirsten's dad appeared, as though he had been waiting for her. "Your mums have been looking for you."

He held her while she cried, bringing her into the warm, when he noticed the cut on her knee and took her to the kitchen for Kirsten's papa to clean up.

She refused to talk to anyone except the rabbits, and they listened sympathetically.

*

Jo was starting work on the second batch of the tracking spell when Dani's phone buzzed and she frantically tried to get it out of her pocket with shaking hands.

"It's Sam." Dani was nodding away after she answered the call, but Jo couldn't hear what was being said. "We'll be right there." Dani hung up and she looked relieved. "She's at Kirsten's house."

"How did she get there so fast?" Jo asked, but she already knew the answer, Maxine had got her powers, and she'd managed to use them to escape. They had taken her somewhere safe, and Jo was hoping that they wouldn't have to do too much explaining.

It was a mad rush to the car, and then what felt like the longest drive to get to Kirsten's house. Jo had a little something stuffed in her cardigan pocket, just in case, that would create a temporary amnesia. She was just hoping that it wouldn't be needed, but the alternative was much worse.

"You guys need to stay in the car, otherwise it's going to look suspicious," Jo said, and there were a lot of displeased looks but in the end they all admitted defeat. Five of them showing up to get Maxine was overkill, and the fact that Marcia was still in her police uniform didn't send the right message. They wanted this all to be forgotten as quickly as possible.

Jo and Dani ran up to the front door and Sam must have seen them coming because he opened the door before they even had a chance to knock.

"Maxine's in the living room, chatting to Mildred and Maud, but she hasn't talked to any of us yet."

Dani ran through to see Maxine talking to Maud, practicing her Lop Rabbit dialect.

"Mama!" Maxine leapt into her arms, burying her face against her neck as she cried.

"It's okay little rabbit, mama's got you now. You're safe now."

"Is her uncle going to jail like my real dad?" Kirsten asked, and Jo flinched at the word 'real' especially since Sam and Esteban were standing there.

Jo knew that she was going to have to deploy the emergency back-up that she was hoping not to use. She sprinkled the powder with a quick flick of the wrist, and the three of them stood frozen for a second, suspended in a trance like state where Jo could tell them anything and they would believe it.

"The girls were playing and Maxine tripped, but it's all fine now," Jo said, trying her best to keep her voice level. "Apart from that they had a nice afternoon."

"That's good," Esteban said, before crouching down next to Kirsten, "Did you have a nice time with Maxine?"

"Yes, papa." Kirsten darted through to the living room to see the rabbits, they were roaming around Maxine trying to see if she was okay.

"We should be getting Maxine home," Jo said, and Dani appeared with Maxine who had stopped crying, which was a relief.

"Are you going to say bye?" Dani asked and Maxine pouted before mumbling bye to Sam and Esteban.

"Bye little one," Sam said, and Esteban sniggered, at this rate Maxine would be taller than Sam by the time that she started high school.

Once they were back in the car Maxine scrambled to sit on her Uncle Roberto's lap, and Dani watched carefully, she wasn't sure how Maxine would react after seeing his doppelganger.

"It's really you!" Maxine squealed, and Dani's eyes went wide.

"How can you tell?" Dani asked, glancing at Jo as she started the car.

"He sounds like him." Maxine tapped his forehead so that everyone understood. "I can tell what you're thinking too, mama, but not mummy."

"So, my shields work for both of you. Useful to know." Jo didn't take her eyes off the road but she could feel Dani scowling, now was not the time to be impressed about her skills.

Dani looked at Roberto and he was clearly thinking the same thing as the rest of them. How were they going to deal with a five year old with powers?

"It's okay, mama. Dandelion told me that they had to be a secret." Maxine was pleating little bits of Roberto's hair as they drove, twisting so that she could reach around the seatbelt to do it.

"I'm going to have to have a word with our little ball of fluff," Dani said, and she was desperately trying not to think of bad things until she could figure out how to shield her thoughts from Maxine. In fact everyone in the car looked like they were thinking the same thing. Rabbits. Nothing but fluffy rabbits.

"Can you drop me off at the station? I'll delete the missing person report," Marcia said, and Jo saw the familiar sign up ahead. With Marcia off to deal with all of that, there was only one loose end.

"I'll drop you guys home and then I'll visit Keva and Steph. Is there anyone at the school who knows about this?"

"No, just Sam and Kirsten, I managed to convince them not to tell the school. But he won't remember that." Dani fidgeted in her seat, would now be the time to move away, start again somewhere new?

"No! I don't want to move!" Maxine screamed, and Dani knew that she was going to have to worry about all this later, so she went back to thinking about fuzzy bunnies.

*

Jo dropped them off and Roberto carried Maxine into the house. She was off in search of Dandelion as soon as they were in the door and Dani let her be, she wanted a word with the others while she was out of hearing range, although she was going to have to watch what she thought.

Dani sighed, slinking towards the kettle, she needed something normal and familiar to occupy her mind.

The making of the tea and coffee got her through until Jo got back, having erased Keva and Steph's memory, replacing it with a mundane rainy afternoon of tv and dinner.

They waited for Marcia to arrive, and then Jo showed them all the trick to blocking their mind reading powers, one word, "Murum."

"That's it?" Dani said, and she couldn't believe that something so simple could block her powers.

Jo just smiled, before the wrinkles appeared back on her forehead. "We should go talk to Maxine."

She was talking to Dandelion, who was lying out on her bed, she often slept by Maxine's side, had done ever since she was a baby, always next to the crib at night.

"Are you mad at me?" Maxine asked, and Jo could see her frowning in concentration as she tried to read their minds.

"No, sweetie. You know you can tell us anything. We could have helped you with all of this, it must be new and scary."

"It's not new, I've always been like this." Maxine turned to pet Dandelion, she was almost cowering, although Jo couldn't figure out why Dandelion had hidden this from them.

"How about you tell your Auntie Marcia all about your powers," Marcia said, picking Maxine up, and she started to chat away, telling her about all the things that she could do.

Dani knelt down by the bed, twitching away as she spoke to Dandelion.

_How could you not tell us that Maxine had powers?_

_I was sent to protect her, from everyone, including you and Jo._

_We would never hurt her._ Dani grunted, and Dandelion stood up slowly, stretching out her front paws as she yawned.

_Even if it was easier just to get rid of a baby with powers?_

_Never!_

_You would have treated her differently, you would have worried about her rather than loving her._

_Well, there's no raisins for you._

_Pity. I would like to have raisins just one more time before I return to the forest. It's my time._ Dandelion stretched again, and suddenly she looked old and frail.

Dani picked Dandelion up, she felt lighter than she used to, and she held her close, wandering down to the kitchen to get raisins as everyone else followed.

"It's time for Dandelion to go back to the forest," Dani said, as Dandelion ate the raisins from her hand.

"Can I go?" Maxine asked, and Dani nodded. Everyone crowded around her, ready to teleport as Dani held Dandelion tight. Marcia gave Maxine to Roberto, since she probably wasn't the best person to be carrying a child through another teleport, not until the worst of the tracking spell had worn off.

In the blink of an eye they were standing in a lush forest, the evening sun streaming through the leaves and making the whole place look magical.

Dani put Dandelion down and she scampered off, flicking her feet as she disappeared into the distance. As they watched her go, two rabbits appeared with a trail of little rabbits behind them.

"Marigold and Timothy?" Jo looked at them and Maxine scrabbled down from her uncle's arms so that she could speak to them.

_Hello._

_Hello Maxine, we've heard all about you from Dandelion._

_Are you friends of hers?_

_Yes. And we have a favour to ask of you, our littlest one will not survive the winter here. Would you take her home with you? To the land of kibbles and raisins?_

"Mum can I have another rabbit?" Maxine asked, using all the tricks that she had learnt so that Jo would say yes.

"Yes, sweetie. We wouldn't want the kibbles to go to waste." Jo smiled, holding Dani close as Maxine went back to her conversation with the rabbits.

_Yes. What's her name?_

_Thank you Maxine, this is Meadow._

A small rabbit hopped towards Maxine, she was much smaller than her brothers and sisters, and she fitted into Maxine's hands. "Meet Meadow," she said, holding up the baby rabbit for everyone to see.

"I think we should get Meadow home, so that she can get settled in," Dani said, as the sun started to dip below the horizon. She held out her hands so that they could all teleport together, and as quickly as they had come, they were gone.

*

The chaos of the day had worn Maxine out, and she fell asleep with Meadow curled up on the bed next to her, along with her stuffed rabbit that she had retrieved using her powers. Jo had watched her move just her pinkie, and there was rabbit, back in her hand. Maxine was going to be powerful, but so were she and Dani, and they had managed to stay on the side of the light.

She wandered down to see the coven assembled in the living room, wondering what to do next.

"What are we going to do with Helmut? I'd hate for housekeeping to find him in the morning." Dani snuggled into Jo as she sat down beside her.

Jo took her phone out, and scrolled through her contacts until she found her parents' number. "Mum, I need a favour."

In the end it had taken less than half an hour for her parents and siblings to ask their covens if they would try a man who had misused his powers. With five covens all agreeing that he was to be stripped of his powers as punishment, they gave Marcia the authority to do it on their behalf. Helmut would live the rest of his life as an ordinary old man, who if he was clever, wouldn't tell people about the time he shapeshifted, or kidnapped a child. Marcia would make that very clear to him.

"There are some upsides to being part of a large family," Jo said. "Although I can't believe we've got another rabbit."

Roberto laughed, and Jo stared at him until he explained. "They're our guardians. Why do you think magicians are always associated with rabbits?"

"Easy to use in a magic act?" Jo thought about it, and realised that stubborn, noisy, and messy were three of the worst traits in an assistant, along with, could chew their way out of anything. She'd never noticed that there were always rabbits around her parents' house, and her school. In fact wherever she went there was rabbits. "I see."

"They look after us, and we look after them. It's the way it will always be."

Just knowing that there were so many people looking out for Maxine made Jo feel warm inside, and she knew that whatever happened, Maxine would turn out to be a good witch, because she was raised with love and kindness.

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
